The Improvement Era
January 196k
B^^r
ATTENTION:
Returning servicemen
Released missionaries
Mid-year high school graduates
You can gain a full semester of college this school year
Plan NOW to register at BYU Feb. 3, 4, 1964
Much is expected of young men and women
today, but in all of their activity those who are
qualified should never lose sight of the goal of
a college education. The moral fiber and brain-
power of its people are the strength of the nation
today, and it is to those who are trained that
the future belongs.
Helping the student to achieve these goals is
the role of the university. It also will determine
his career, friends, outlook, and economic status
CLIP AND MAIL
TO:
University Relations Division
Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah
Please send me free of charge additional information about
BYU. I am especially interested in
Name
Address _
City _ State
for the rest of his life. The wise student will get
the BONUS education of a GREAT Church uni-
versity with all of the advantages of a big
university yet all the friendliness of a small
college.
BYU is one of the world's great universities. It
provides top training in 60 departments of 1 1
colleges, staffed by an outstanding faculty
trained in a hundred universities and colleges,
and using finest facilities on a beautiful, new
campus. BYU students are in demand because
of this superior education. Here they receive
balanced academic, physical, and spiritual edu-
cation in an ideal social climate.
Enjoy these advantages. Plan NOW to attend
second semester. Be sure to call or write imme-
diately for admission or readmission.
Brigham Young
UNIVERSITY
Exploring
the
Universe
By Dr. Franklin S. Harris Jr.
GREATEST SNOWFALL
The greatest snowfall in one season
in the 50 United States was recorded
at Paradise Ranger Station on the
southern slope of Mt. Rainier, Wash-
ington, in 1955-56, with 1,000 inches.
Weather-wise also reports that at
Silver Lake, Colorado, a snowfall of
87 inches fell in 27.5 hours on April
14-15, 1921 at 10,220 feet elevation.
MOON INFLUENCES
The influences of the moon and
planets on the earth are quite small
except for gravitation effects. Re-
cently E. K. Bigg of Australia has
noticed that there is a decrease in
the frequency of magnetic storms
at new moon. He has shown that
the position of the moon at these
times is important and suggested
that Venus and Mercury influence
magnetic disturbances near their in-
ferior conjunctions when they are on
the same side of the sun as the earth.
AWAY FROM LIVING CELL
Research at Utah State University
has demonstrated that for the first
time virus synthesis can take place
away from a living cell. The bio-
chemistry of virus formation can
now be studied under simpler, con-
trolled conditions than when in a
living cell.
NEW COMPOSER
Work at the Bell Telephone Labora-
tories has found that a computer
can be programmed to play "instru-
mental" music, either by aiding the
composer or to compose without as-
sistance. Computer music appears to
be of promise technically but it is felt
that the method will only become im-
portant if used by serious composers.
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JANUARY 1964
The Improvement Era
The Voice of the Church
Contents for January 1964
Volume 67. Number 1
Official organ of the Priesthood
Quorums, Mutual Improvement
Associations, Ward Teachers, Music
Committee, Department of Education,
and other agencies of The
Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints.
T
Church Features
The Editor's Page: "Life Eternal," President David O. McKay 12
Your Question: "The Priesthood of John the Baptist,"
President Joseph Fielding Smith - 14
The Church Moves On, 4; Melchizedek Priesthood, 44; Presiding Bishopric's Page, 46.
Special Features
A Scholar, A Gentle Man, President Levi Edgar Young, S. Dilworth Young 16
Notes on Living, Grant Madison .. 24
Filling the Void, Stephen R. Covey 26
Genealogy: Pertinent Questions Answered - 28
The Function of Counselors, David H. Yarn, Jr 30
Except the Lord Build the House, Gordon B. Hinckley 32
Let's Study the Twentieth Century, James B. Allen 34
The Spoken Word from Temple Square, Richard L. Evans 37, 38, 40
Exploring the Universe, Franklin S. Harris, Jr., 1; Letters and Reports, 10; These Times: The
American Presidency 1964, G, Homer Durham, 8.
Today's Family: Florence B. Pinnock, Editor
Think up New Project 48
Are Your Children Respectful? Patrecia Velarde 52
The Era of Youth 57
The Last Word 72
Stories, Poetry
He-Who-Will-Be-Chief, Jay Ellis Ransom .... , 21
Poetry..... 23, 36,53, 55
ART AND PHOTO CREDITS
8 Art: Ed Maryon
15 Art: Dale Kilbourn
16 Photo: Ernst Wittke
17 Photos: R. A. Lewis, New York
Savage & Ottinger, Salt
Lake City
Mobus-Vollenveider, Zurich
18 Photos: Thomas Studio, Salt Lake
City
Sainsbury & Johnson, Salt
Lake City
Lorin Wiggins
19 Photo: Ralph Reynolds
21-22 Art: Ted Nagata
23 Art: Dale Kilbourn
26-27 Art: Dale Kilbourn
30 Art: Ted Nagata
32 Photos: Doyle L. Green
35 Photo: Ernst Wittke
44 Photo: Ralph Reynolds
48 Art: Dave Burton
52 Art: Phyllis Luch
59 Art: Virginia Sargent
60-62 Photos: Staker Studios, Idaho
Falls
Charles Ruiz, Castro Val-
ley, California
Others unknown
62 Photos: Charles Ruiz
Utah State University Ex-
tension Service
Others unknown
65-66 Photos: The Avalanche Journal,
Elder Keith J. Clayton,
French East Mission
Maxwell, Englewood,
Colorado
Others unknown
68-69 Art: Virginia Sargent
71 Photos: Dean Pierpont
All other art and photos by Ralph
Reynolds Studio
The Improvement Era Offices, 135 South State Street, Salt Lake City 11, Utah the cover
Da™ O. McKay and Richard L. Evans, Editors; Doyle L. Green, Mananine. Editor; Mahba C. Josefhson, Associate Managing Editor; Albert L. Zobell, Jh.,
Research Editor; Carter E. Grant, Ahlene Larsen, Donna Higgins, Editorial Associates; Florence B. Pinnock, Today's Family Editor; Marion D. Hanks,
The Era of Youth Editor; Elaine Cannon, The Era of Youth Associate Editor; Art Direction: Ralph Reynolds Studio.
G. Homer Durham, Franklin S. Harris, Jr., Hugh Nibley, Sidney B. Sperry, Alma A. Gardiner, N. Eldon Tanner, Contributing Editors.
G. Carlos Smith, Jr., General Manager; Florence S. Jacobsen, Associate General Manager; Verl F. Scott, Business Manager; A. Glen Snarh, Subscription
Director; Thayer Evans, Advertising Director.
Copyright 1963 by Mutual Funds, Inc., and published by the Mutual Improvement Associations of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. All rights
reserved. Subscription price, $3.00 a year, in advance; multiple subscriptions, 2 years, $5.75; 3 years, $8.25; each succeeding year, $2.50 a year added to the
three year price.
Entered at the Post Office, Salt Lake City, Utah as second-class matter. Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in section 1103, act
of October 1917, authorized July 2, 1918.
The Improvement Era is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts but welcomes contributions. Manuscripts are paid for on acceptance at the rate of 2e
a word and must be accompanied by sufficient postage for delivery and return.
Thirty days' notice is required for change of address. When ordering a change, please include address slip from a recent issue of the magazine. Address
changes cannot be made unless the old address as well as the new one is included.
The chill of an early winter
morning— really not cold because
the boats, trees, and shore wear
only a light blanket of the warming
snow, and the water is a reminder
of the good times to come soon in
the spring. The transparency that
becomes our January cover is the
work of Bill Ratcliffe who has
titled it "Winter at the mouth
of Provo River," Utah.
Cover Lithographed in full color
by Deseret News Press
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
, ^bftSi>
ANSWERS TO GOSPEL
QUESTIONS -Volume IV
by President Joseph Fielding Smith
The most recent of President Joseph
Fielding Smith's invaluable refer-
ence works compiled from his Im-
provement Era columns. The prob-
lems that interest you can be found
in this series, examined and ex-
plained in President Smith's authori-
tative style.
$2.75
Other volumes, I, II, III also $2.75
Lively and inspirational books for 1964. Quality reading that
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2 THERE STOOD I - LOOKING! byS.Diiworth Young
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delicate and personal volume of favorite poems. $1 .50
3 LATTER-DAY PROPHETS AND THE DOCTRINE AND COVENANTS
Volume II Sections 42 to 76 by Roy W. Doxey
An amazing and enlightening volume that is a worthy successor to the very popular
Volume I. Elder Doxey is Associate Professor of Religion and Chairman of the Depart-
ment of Undergraduate Studies in the College of Religious Instruction at Brigham Young
University. Fascinating insight into latter-day prophecy. $3.95
4 FASTING-THE SECOND STEP TO ETERNAL LIFE byAianP.joLon
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The
Church Moves
On
OCTOBER 1963
An early morning church welfare meeting convened in the
Assembly Hall as part of the conference.
General sessions of the conference continued in the Salt Lake
Tabernacle this morning and afternoon.
This evening the priesthood session of the general conference
convened in the Tabernacle. More than 370 gatherings of priest-
hood bearers heard this session of conference by direct telephone
wire in chapels and church buildings from coast to coast. It is
estimated that some eighty thousand men and boys participated
in this session this way.
Additional missionary reunions were held, following priest-
hood meeting.
Speaking to the subject "Except the Lord Build the House
I They Labour in Vain," Elder Gordon B. Hinckley of the Coun-
cil of the Twelve addressed the nationwide radio audience of the
"Church of the Air" program of the Columbia Broadcasting System.
( See page 32. )
This was the concluding day of the general conference. More
than 160 television stations in Canada and the United States and
approximately 30 radio stations broadcast parts of this conference.
WRUL, a short-wave station, broadcast the conference to various
parts of the world in English and Spanish and for the first time
in German and Portuguese.
The day was concluded with the semiannual conference of
the Deseret Sunday School Union held in the Tabernacle.
■ At the weekly meeting of the First Presidency and the Coun-
m cil of the Twelve in the Salt Lake Temple, President David
O. McKay set President Hugh B. Brown apart as First Counselor
and President Nathan Eldon Tanner as Second Counselor.
President Joseph Fielding Smith of the Council of the Twelve
ordained Elder Thomas Spencer Monson an apostle.
Elder Edwin S. Lamm sustained as president of Grand Junc-
tion ( Colorado ) Stake with Elders Read L. Black and Douglas
W. Cleghorn as counselors. President Lamm and Elder Black were
counselors to President Lark L. Washburn who was released.
The First Presidency announced the appointment of Elder
John Malcolm Asplund as president of the Finnish Mission,
succeeding President Mark E. Anderson. At the time of this call
President Asplund is serving as bishop of the University Ward,
Edmonton (Alberta) Stake. He served as a missionary in Finland
from 1951 to 1954. Accompanying him now to his field of labor
will be his wife Patricia Havens Asplund and their four children.
It was announced that Mrs. Leta C. Pugh, Mrs. Jean A. Allen,
and Mrs. Afton G. Affleck, all of Salt Lake City, had received calls
to the general board of the Young Women's Mutual Improve-
ment Association.
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
JUST OFF THE PRESS
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Attempts by outsiders to disclaim the divine
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Genealogical Research in England and Wales
By Frank Smith and David Gardner
3. Vol 1 4. Vol. 2
For the beginner as well as the professional. Tells what sources
. are available and how to use
•■> them. Very detailed and profusely
illustrated. $3.95 each
f 5. Handbook for Genealogical
Correspondence
By Cache Genealogical Library
v\ StmM^^ Many °f the problems encoun-
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obtain information by letter, are
if?
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A masterful expose of the book "The 27th
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7. Faith-Works
By Mark E. Petersen
Poignant, hard-hitting editorials which have
inspired thousands- when printed in the
Church section of the Deseret News.
$3.50
8. The Prophecies of Joseph Smith _
By Duane S. Crowther
Each of the prophetic statements uttered
by Joseph Smith is carefully studied and
its fulfillment discussed.
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JANUARY 1964
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The appointment of Mrs. Ruby O. Richards to the general
board of the Primary Association was announced. She lives in
Salt Lake City.
CJ1 Santa Maria Stake was organized from parts of San Luis
m Obispo ( California ) Stake with Elder Clayton K. Call sustained
as president and Elders Allen D. Miller, Jr., and Harlan D. Swonger
as his counselors. The stake, the 384th now functioning, was organ-
ized under the direction of Elder Harold B. Lee of the Council of
the Twelve and Elder Alma Sonne, Assistant to the Council of the
Twelve. Santa Maria Stake takes its name from the two Santa
Maria wards within the stake. Santa Maria was first "organized as a
Sunday School in 1929 and attained branch status in 1936.
Elder James D. Packer sustained as first counselor to President
Arthur J. Godfrey of San Luis Obispo Stake, succeeding Elder
Clayton K. Call. Elder Harold E. Livingston sustained as second
counselor, succeeding Elder Packer.
Elder Roy W. Doxey sustained as president of Provo (Utah)
Stake, succeeding President Dean C. Christensen. President
Doxey 's counselors are Elders Bliss H. Crandall and Dean E. Terry.
President Doxey and Elder Crandall had served as counselors to
President Christensen.
President Hugh B. Brown, First Counselor in the First Presi-
dency, marked the eightieth anniversary of his birth by a full
schedule of work at his office.
The First Presidency announced the appointment of Elder Ezra
Taft Benson of the Council of the Twelve as president of the Euro-
pean Mission, succeeding Elder Theodore M. Burton, Assistant to
the Council of the Twelve. Elder Benson will preside over the
following missions: Austrian, Bavarian, Berlin, Central German,
Danish, Finnish, North German, Norwegian, South German, Swed-
ish, Swiss, and West German. To this assignment with him will
go Mrs. Benson and their daughter Beth. This is the second time
Elder Benson has presided in Europe. In 1946 he reopened the
European missions of the Church, following World War II.
The First Presidency announced the appointment of Elder
Edward A. Nadle of Los Angeles to succeed President Richard
W. Maycock of the Northern States Mission. President Nadle, a
convert to the Church, is currently serving as a counselor in the
Los Angeles Stake presidency. He has served in the auxiliaries
as a stake board member and as ward superintendent, co-chairman
of a YMMIA division; as a presiding elder and as a member of a
district presidency and as president of an elders quorum and a
bishop. Mrs. Nadle will accompany him to the mission field. They
have a married daughter.
The First Presidency announced the appointment of Elder
Milton L. Weilenmann, former president of the Alaskan-Canadian
Mission, to the priesthood missionary committee of the Church.
The First Presidency announced the appointment of Elder Max
A. Berryessa of the faculty of Brigham Young University to
the children planning committee of the all-Church co-ordinat-
ing committee.
Elder Howard W. Hunter of the Council of the Twelve dedi-
cated bureau of information next to the Carthage Jail, scene of
the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum
the Patriarch.
Elder LeRoy Layton sustained as president of Mesa ( Arizona )
Stake, succeeding President H. Loren Allen, deceased. President
Layton had been serving as second counselor. Elder Haskell V.
Stradling was re-sustained as first counselor, and Elder George S.
Standage was sustained as second counselor.
Elder Howard W. Moody (Continued on page 52)
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3. Other benefits for loss
within 90 days of accident
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I also apply for coverage for the members of my family listed below:
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Before the tragedy in Dallas, Texas,
November 22, 1963, the following
words were written by the author:
"Will it be Kennedy again? Has
Goldwater a chance? Will Rocke-
feller come from behind to gain the
Republican nomination? Will Lyn-
don Johnson step aside, be passed
over, or be renominated as Vice-
President? Nixon waiting in the
wings? Are the favorite sons, Rom-
ney of Michigan, Scranton of Penn-
sylvania, truly in decline? Or are
they also nearby, in the wings of
the great stage? What will Gov-
ernor Wallace of Alabama do,
especially to Goldwater's chances
in the South? And, what about
Margaret Chase Smith of Maine?
"As 1964 opens, the entire world
asks these questions. The candi-
dates and the American people will
provide answers in the great quad-
rennial spectacle of American poli-
tics. Sectionalism, race, and national
origin, ethnic groups, religion, eco-
nomic groups (especially labor, busi-
ness, and agriculture) will all play
a part.
"On the surface civil rights, edu-
cational opportunity, economic and
social betterment for the Negro ap-
pear to be the major issues in the
The
American
Presidency
1964
THESE TIMES
By Dr. G. Homer Durham
President, Arizona State University, Tempe
making. States' rights versus na-
tional authority, an issue in every
American national election since
the meeting of the First Continental
Congress in September 1774, will
appear in this and other forms— as
usual. The Supreme Court will be
condemned, praised, or ignored as
in Jefferson's day (he condemned it
and especially John Marshall, his
fellow Virginian). Foreign policy,
as since 1774, will also be argued.
Waste, extravagance, and public
expense will be roundly condemned
as always. Suggestions that evil
will be conquered, the country
saved, and the rights and dignity of
man upheld against the dire threats
of subtle and wicked adversaries
will be heard on all sides. It is a
great pageant, a great therapeutic
agent for the pent-up emotions of
nearly 200,000,000 people. But it
is more. Behind the sound and the
fury, so characteristic and so familiar
to the students of American history
(even to those who proclaim, 'but
this one is different' ) , lies one of the
great civilized achievements of the
human race. The achievement is
the peaceful election and the peace-
ful transfer of power from President
to President of one of the greatest
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
magistracies the world has ever
known. As Theodore H. White
has written, 'the winning of the
President's power lies in noise and
change, the flogging of the emo-
tions, and the appeal to all the
tribal pasts of America. But the
exercise of the Presidency must be
framed by reason, by the analysis
of reality as it can only be seen
from the President's desk— and by
leading other men to see this reality
as he alone perceives it.'
"To achieve the American presi-
dency, a candidate has to surmount
three major obstacles, any one of
which taxes his physical, emotional,
mental, and spiritual capacity. First,
a candidate has to acquire some
semblance of national visibility. This
generally comes as a consequence of
long and difficult effort. Even a
John F. Kennedy, with his own, his
family's, and his father's millions, had
to earn a degree from Harvard, work
as a naval officer, write a book, get
elected to Congress, and almost
snare the Democratic Vice-Presi-
dential nomination in 1956, in order
to acquire visibility at an extremely
youthful age by 1960. Gaining na-
tional visibility is not a simple
matter even for sports heroes,
actresses, and cosmonauts. Second-
ly, the candidate has to gain the
nomination of either the Democratic
or the Republican party. This takes
nationwide organizations; millions
of dollars; ability to go without
sleep; eat whether you like it or not;
and speak intelligently and accept-
ably by radio and TV to millions,
nationwide, and to the separate
prejudices and biases of all the local,
ethnic, religious, racial, and economic
groupings of this vast nation. Mean-
while, the candidate must success-
fully serve as general of a variety of
organizations seeking to capture a
(Continued on page 54)
BEST APPROACH TO
GOSPEL LEARNING
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NAME
ADDRESS
CITY
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JANUARY 1964
A TOTAL ELECTRIC
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IO
Letters
and
Reports
MIA JOY AWARDS EARNED
Every Mia Maid girl in the Carmichael
Second Ward, American River (California)
Stake, earned a Mia Joy award this year.
Pictured are, (1-r) first row, Linda Lewis,
Gail Richins, Annette Stephens, Thora
Pinnegar, Diana Townley; second row,
Colleen Johnson, Dianne Foot, Shanna
Hemingway, Linda Sue Hodgkins, Ruth
Poppleton, and Kathleen K. Terry, teacher.
Award receiver not pictured is Ruth Berry.
IN URUGUAY
North American Latter-day Saints living
in the Montevideo, Uruguay, area recently
met at the home of President and Sister A.
Theodore Tuttle for a monthly social
gathering. In rotation each family is host
EXPRESS GRATITUDE
This beautifully illustrated church publi-
cation—one of the tangible "fruits" of
Mormonism— is a witness to all who read it
of the Church's rapid strides throughout
the world. Our 170 missionaries join with
us in a hearty praise of its value as a prose-
lyting tool. You and the staff of The Im-
provement Era are to be congratulated for
a job being well done.
Sincerely,
Fred W. Schwendiman,
Mission President
Lee Roderick, Missionary
New Zealand South Mission
for a social. The monthly gatherings in-
clude outdoor games, a buffet dinner, and
evening entertainment which has included
musical numbers, short skits, and reports
of experiences.
A HELP IN TEACHING
I find the Era is a wonderful help in teach-
ing the gospel to our "hermanos" in Peru.
Even though they can't read the articles,
we as missionaries can and do take teach-
ings, pictures, and thoughts from this great
help, and use them to better present the
gospel message.
Thanks so much for the articles and
keep up the great effort especially with
pictures, etc. God bless you in your
efforts .
Sincerely,
Elder Irvine G. Rencher
Andes Mission
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
Model shown is Hammond Organ D-152, in Walnut, $3895. Model D-155 in Light Oak, $4005. All prices f.o.b. factory, subject to change without notice.
Introducing:
The D-100 Series Hammond Organ
Now: A 32 Pedal Note Keyboard
plus a complete sound system within the console
Every component of our new instrument
has been taken, intact, from our famous
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in large churches and great cathedrals.)
The entire sound system of the mag-
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is needed.) Yet its music power output
is comparable to that of our largest re-
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And every famous RT-3 feature has
been incorporated in the new D-100—
including Hammond's exclusive Solo
Pedal Division. (Which gives your or-
ganist all the important pitch levels
needed in the proper interpretation of
the masterpieces of organ literature.
And makes possible quick registration
changes from an accompaniment type
bass to a solo type bass.)
Think of the possibilities.
Even in small sanctuaries, everyone
can hear all the rich, majestic tones
that fill large churches. And in large
churches, remote tone cabinets can
supplement the D-100-with the addi-
tional advantage that the organist can
hear the organ at the console.
Get all the details on the new D-100
from your Hammond dealer. And don't
be surprised to learn that it costs a
little more than other organs.
After all, the organ that gives the
organist so many exclusive and impor-
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i
Hammond Organ Company
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| Name
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® 1563, HAMMOND ORGAN COMPANY
THE EDITOR'S PAGE / BY PRESIDENT DAVID O. McKAY
Life Eternal
As we enter this new year, for what should we be
seeking? Is it not for life eternal? What is that? The
Savior of mankind gave us this definition:
"And this is life eternal, that they might know thee
the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast
sent." (John 17:3.)
Life eternal! What is sweeter? What is more
precious? You young people who like science, read
and try to find out from scientific men what life is.
They cannot tell you. They see its effects. They see it
manifest all around us. They see it everywhere— in
the woods and in the air. Its great manifestation is
in the children of men— offspring of Deity— and you
have an opportunity to live forever.
Life eternal is to know God and Jesus Christ whom
he has sent.
How may we know God? A lawyer one day asked
Jesus: "Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
"He said unto him, What is written in the law?
how readest thou?
"And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord
thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and
with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy
neighbour as thyself.
"And he said unto him, Thou has answered right:
this do, and thou shalt live." (Luke 10:25-28.)
On another occasion the Savior told a group how
12
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
they might know. He said: "My doctrine is not mine,
but his that sent me." (John 7:16.)
Oh, youth (and those who would keep the precious
viewpoint of youth), listen to this if you would know
God and Jesus Christ whom he sent,
"My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.
"If any man will do his will, he shall know of the
doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak
of myself." (Ibid., 7:16-17.)
There is your answer.
But then arises the question, what is his will? It is
already answered by that lawyer who said,
"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy
heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength,
and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself."
(Luke 10:27.)
But it is more specifically answered by Christ's
chief apostle on the day of Pentecost, when three
thousand people were pricked in their hearts, and they
cried out:
"Men and brethren, what shall we do?
"Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be bap-
tized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for
the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of
the Holy Ghost.
"For the promise is unto you, and to your children,
and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord
our God shall call." (Acts 2:37-39.)
Later, this same chief apostle, speaking about
repentance, baptism, how the priesthood had come
to them, and how they had become "partakers
of the divine nature," added specific virtues. If
ever you can get to that point, you will know that
Jesus is the Christ and this is the work of God.
(See 2 Peter 1:3-4.)
Then Peter adds:
"And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your
faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
"And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance
patience; and to patience godliness;
"And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to
brotherly kindness charity.
"For if these things be in you, and abound, they
make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful
in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ" (ibid.,
1:5-8), or, phrasing it another way, to know the Christ
and his Father is eternal life.
Every one of us may know that truth and live
eternally. And do not worry about what your assign-
ment is in the Church. Keep in mind that the Savior
is leading you. You who are actively carrying on the
work of the Church, yours is a wonderful work. It
is God's work. Keep close to him, and he will guide
you, not only during this year 1964 but always.
JANUARY 1964
13
THE PRIESTHOOD OF
JOHN THE BAPTIST
question: "In our quorum meet-
ing the question was asked: 'Who
conferred the Aaronic Priesthood
on John the Baptist?' We looked
the question up and discovered that
he was ordained by an angel. We
also learned that Johns father held
the office of a priest. Since a priest
answer: For some unknown rea-
son this question has come to me
several times in the past few weeks.
The reason why it has been sub-
mitted is a mystery to me since the
Lord made the matter perfectly
clear in the revelation in the Doc-
trine and Covenants which is
as follows:
"Which gospel is the gospel of re-
pentance and of baptism, and the
remission of sins, and the law of
carnal commandments, which the
Lord in his wrath caused to con-
tinue with the house of Aaron
among the children of Israel until
John, whom God raised up, being
filled with the Holy Ghost from his mother's womb.
"For he was baptized while he was yet in his child-
hood, and ordained by the angel of God at the time
he was eight days old unto this power, to overthrow
the kingdom of the Jews, and to make straight the
way of the Lord before the face of his people, to
prepare them for the coming of the Lord, in whose
hand is given all power." (D&C 84:27-28.)
The Lord was pleased not to reveal the name of
the angel who ministered to John. The reason
Zacharias could not ordain John is because of the fact
that John received certain keys of authority which his
YOUR
QUES
TION
ANSWERED BY
JOSEPH
FIELDING
SMITH
PRESIDENT OF
THE COUNCIL
OF THE TWELVE
has the authority to ordain a dea-
con, teacher, or priest in the Aaronic
Priesthood, and his father had au-
thority to ordain deacons, teachers,
and priests and was living on the
earth at the time, why was not he
instead of an angel commanded to
ordain his son?"
authority had to be conferred by
this heavenly messenger, who was
duly authorized and sent to confer
it. John's ordination was not merely
the bestowal of the Aaronic Priest-
hood, which his father held, but
also the conferring of certain essen-
tial powers peculiar to the time
among which was the authority to
overthrow the kingdom of the
Jews and "to make straight the way
of the Lord." Moreover, it was to
prepare the Jews and other Israel-
ites for the coming of the Son of
God. This great authority required
a special ordination beyond the
delegated power that had been
given to Zacharias or any other priest who went before
him, so the angel of the Lord was sent to John in
his childhood to confer it.
The trouble with so many of us is the fact that we
reach conclusions in relation to some matters without
knowing all the facts pertaining to the specific events.
It is very apparent that a large proportion of the
members of the Church do not prepare themselves
thoroughly by study, prayer, and faith to understand
many of the revelations which have been placed before
us. This lack of comprehension is not the fault of the
Lord, but the fault of the individual.
father Zacharias did not possess. Therefore this special Perhaps I may be pardoned for this thought which
14
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
I present without any desire to find fault, but merely
to impress upon our minds the need of a more
thorough search of the revealed word of the Lord in
sincere prayer and humility of spirit. It is a simple
matter to reach incorrect conclusions when only a
part of the facts is understood. Therefore the members
of the Church, and especially those holding the Divine
Priesthood, should be diligent in their study with the
spirit of humility and prayer. It is plainly revealed
that John was sent to prepare the way before the Lord
by teaching the people to repent and receive baptism
preparatory to the advent and opening of the min-
istry of the Son of God. This was a very special
ordination beyond the authority of Zacharias or any
other previously ordained priest who held the office
before him.
When John the Baptist sent men unto Jesus to ask
him the question: "Art thou he that should come? Or
look we for another?" the Savior bore testimony in
relation to the greatness of John in the following words:
". . . What went ye out ... to see? A reed shaken
with the wind?
"But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed
in soft raiment? Behold they which are gorgeously
apparelled, and live delicately, are in kings' courts.
"But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? Yea,
I say unto you, and much more than a prophet.
"This is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send
my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy
way before thee.
"For I say unto you, Among those that are born
of women there is not a greater prophet than John
the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of
God is greater than he." (Luke 7:24-28.)
The Prophet Joseph Smith commenting on this
statement has presented before us the following:
"First. He [John] was entrusted with a divine mis-
sion of preparing the way before the face of the Lord.
Whoever had such a trust committed to him before or
since? No man.
"Secondly. He was entrusted with the important
mission, and it was required at his hands, to baptize
the Son of Man. . . . Whoever led the Son of God into
the waters of baptism, and had the privilege of behold-
ing the Holy Ghost descend in the form of a dove,
or rather in the sign of the dove, in witness of that
administration? The sign of the dove was instituted
before the creation of the world, a witness for the
Holy Ghost, and the devil cannot come in the sign of
a dove. . . .
"Thirdly. John at that time, was the only legal
administrator in the affairs of the kingdom there was
then on the earth, and holding the keys of power. The
Jews had to obey his instructions or be damned, by
their own law; and Christ himself fulfilled all right-
eousness in becoming obedient to the law which he
had given to Moses on the mount, and thereby magni-
fied it and made it honorable, instead of destroying
it. The son of Zacharias wrested the keys, the king-
dom, the power, the glory from the Jews, by the holy
anointing and decree of heaven, and these three rea-
sons constitute him the greatest prophet born of a
woman." (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith,
pp. 275-276.)
JANUARY 1964
15
A scholar,
a gentle man
President Levi EdgarYoung,
senior member of the
First Council of the Seventy,
completes his earthly-
service in his ninetieth year.
FEBRUARY 2. 1 874 - DECEMBER 13, 1963
BY PRESIDENT S. DILWORTH YOUNG
OF THE FIRST COUNCIL OF THE SEVENTY
On the second day of February, 1874, at two o'clock
in the morning, the fourth child and second son was
born to Dr. Seymour B. and Ann Elizabeth .Riter
Young. Dr. Young, not having finished his medical
training at New York University Medical School, was
not at home. The newborn son was three weeks old
before his father held him in his arms, just after
his arrival home on February 28. With childhood
pride the infant's brothers and sisters, Seymour B.,
Jr., Lillie, and Florence crowded around him, vying
to attract attention and tell what they knew of the
new arrival, soon to be blessed and given the name
of Levi Edgar, after his maternal grandfather
Levi E. Riter.
Dr. Seymour B. Young, who had already had his
share of adventure, was born in Kirtland, Ohio, Octo-
ber 3, 1837. In Missouri he was carried as an infant in
his mother's arms to safety, hiding in the hazel brush
at Haim's Mill where seventeen were massacred. As
a boy he crossed the plains with the pioneers of 1850,
having endured the privations at Nauvoo and Winter
Quarters. Later as an active, wiry young man, he
pushed a handcart east across the plains to Winter
Quarters on his way to England as a missionary
(this was the return journey of the first handcarts
used in the westward trek) in the spring of 1857.
On this journey the murderer of Parley P. Pratt was
pointed out to him in St. Louis. During the Civil War
he served with Lot Smith's cavalry, guarding the
telegraph lines against Indian attack. In 1870 he
accompanied his father Joseph Young on a missionary
journey to England, which lasted several months. And
at the birth of Levi Edgar he had just completed two
school years at New York University, where he was
awarded his medical degree with honors.
Meanwhile, Ann Elizabeth Riter had many adven-
tures to occupy her while she was growing up. Her
birth had taken place in 1847 in a wagon box on the
journey to Utah. She grew up amid the pioneer
conditions of the day. The old cabin in which she
lived as a child was still standing in the yard of her
brother W. W. Riter as late as 1930. After her mar-
riage to Seymour B. Young she was the support of
her growing family while her husband was in Eng-
land with his father, and later attending school in
New York. It is true that he went hungry much of
the time while in college and lived in a garret with-
out heat, keeping warm by sitting in bed, wearing a
fur coat, fur cap, and mittens, while studying. Al-
though he had only one mouth to feed, she had four,
and she did it by taking boarders and making buck-
skin gloves to sell to emigrants, passing through the
Salt Lake Valley.
16
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
Dr. Young hung out his shingle at an office located
directly in front of the old Seventies Hall, 155 South
State Street, and for another six months had so little
practice that he was no support to his family. His
first case was a severed artery caused from a fall on
the ice. He sutured the wound and charged $1.00
as a fee.
Six months later he was doing better, having been
appointed city physician to the insane asylum and
hospital and further as a personal physician to Presi-
dent Brigham Young.
The little adobe home in which Dr. Young settled
his family stood on a lot at 48 South 4th East, Salt
Lake City. Before the birth of Levi, plans had been
made and work started on the large two-story adobe
house on the same lot which was the family home for
the next fifty-two years. Levi Edgar's chief memories
center in the big house.
From Levi's childhood, standards were held high
in his home. As she could, Elizabeth Riter Young
acquired walnut furniture of fine quality. She added
silver plate and sterling, matching these with linen
tablecloths of purest sheen. Since she knew quality,
she meant to see that her children were reared in
quality surroundings. Much of this was done with
her own savings from household expense, for she was
a financial genius and managed to create an estate
that served the family for many years. Dr. Young
meanwhile, his income increasing until after his call
to the First Council of the Seventy, aided and abetted
the enterprise. The books, the pictures on the walls,
the evenings of family entertainment and discussion
were happy affairs for him, when he could be home.
The first twenty years of the life of Levi Edgar
Young occurred during the troublous times of the
difficulties with the government— territorial and na-
tional. Dr. Young was away from home most of the
time, and it was a good thing Levi Edgar had a
mother of strong character and determination, having
the ability to create the means to back her decisions.
One of her strongest desires was to see that Lee, as
the family called him, had the education he desired.
Early he had shown a propensity for study and books,
and his mother fostered this tendency. During the
maturing period of his life while she was rearing a
family which totaled by 1895, twelve children, Eliza-
beth centered the family discipline around the prop-
osition that nothing must interfere with the education
of Levi Edgar. Not that each child didn't receive edu-
cation, but Lee must not be disturbed in his efforts.
Levi Edgar attended the old Twelfth Ward School.
Later, after his graduation from the university, he
was made a member of Sigma Chi Fraternity, one
At left — Dr. Seymour B. Young, father, and at right, Ann
Elizabeth Young, mother of President Levi Edgar Young.
Bottom — Office force of Swiss and German Missions, 1904-
German Mission — Hugh J. Cannon, president; Joseph
Keeler, secretary; Quayle Cannon, assistant secretary.
Swiss Mission — Levi Edgar Young, president; Albert E.
Bowen, secretary; Richard Andrew, assistant secretary.
of two men in the nation to be so honored. ( The other
was Grover Cleveland.)
For a year he taught school at the old Lowell School
and then went to Harvard University for a summer,
followed the next season by a year at that university.
He taught for a season at the LDS University.
While employed as an instructor at the University
of Utah, he obtained a leave of absence to accept a
mission to Germany. He sailed from Boston on
the SS New England, July 17, 1901, as a second-
cabin passenger.
His mission was one of the greatest "schools" he
could have attended. In the eastern part of the
JANUARY 1964
17
United States, people of means sent their newly
graduated children for a season in Europe, varying
from a few months to a year or two. A person was
not considered educated until he had seen Europe's
great works of art and architecture, learned a foreign
language, and mingled with its people. The missions of
the Church have given this opportunity to its mission-
aries, rich and poor alike. While the purpose has not
been personal cultural improvement, yet one could not
fail to absorb a great deal of European culture by
dwelling in a country for the period of a mission.
Actually he saw more of how the common people
lived than by any other means.
The mission of Levi Edgar Young came at a time
when there was much persecution in Europe. Many
missionaries were arrested and imprisoned. All were
badgered and irritated by the authorities. Per-
mission had to be obtained to go tracting. There
were few meetings held that did not have as at-
tendants either known detectives or officers posing
as civilians. Much of the time permission was with-
held to go tracting, to proselyte publicly or privately.
Meetings could be held only by permission, and
permission was often withheld. Elders violating
these regulations were jailed and sometimes expelled
from the country. President Levi Edgar Young was
jailed in his turn, and but for the efforts of Bishop
Glass of the Catholic Diocese of Utah, would have
been in jail longer than he was.
At Berlin President Francis M. Lyman gave Elder
Young a powerful blessing, which President Young
reports: "I was to learn the German language quickly
and fluently; and I was to become remarkable in it.
He afterwards told me to study hard and become a
good interpreter in order to become a help to him."
During the period of his intense study of German
in Gotha, he found time to remember his sister Elma's
birthday. His love for his sisters could not be re-
strained as in homesick eloquence he reminded
himself of his affection. "I wish I could go to her
and tell her how much I love her. God bless her
with the happiest of lives."
In 1964, of the sisters now living, Elma, the eldest,
is in her eighties. When asked what she remembered
best about her brother, she said that his constant,
kind consideration and anxiety for her as a young
girl was her best remembrance. "Lee was the best
of brothers. He was ever thoughtful of us and went
out of his way to make us happy with gifts and by
sharing all of his pleasures with us."
Another reminder from home came in the shape of
his trunk. "My trunk came this afternoon and every-
thing in it was o.k. It hadn't been opened since I
At left — President Levi Edgar Young about the time of
his return from the mission field.
At right — Valeria Brinton Young, June 1895, graduate
and valedictorian, University of Utah.
Bottom — Title page of The Founding of Utah, a favorite
among President Young's published works. This textbook
was well-received, largely because of the number of human
interest stories which he included within its pages.
left home. It takes mother to pack a trunk; and
father to rope one."
Elder Young was appointed to preside over the
Swiss Mission, June 1, 1902, and from then until his
return home date he was busily engaged in the work
of supervision of Saints and elders. One of the high-
lights of his mission was a visit to a conference at
Copenhagen at the call of President Francis M.
Lyman of the European Mission. Here he met many
friends, received valuable instruction from President
Lyman, and returned to his field refreshed. Among
other elders, he was closely associated with Albert E.
Bowen, later of the Council of the Twelve, who acted
as mission secretary during Elder Young's presidency
18
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
The Young home at 555 East South Temple, taken in
December 1963. President and Mrs. Young have made
this their home for many years. In this gracious dwelling,
they have entertained their many friends. In addition to
the spacious rooms, President Young had a remarkable
library, which, in addition to his innumerable volumes in
his office at the Church headquarters, assisted him in his
historical and religious research.
of the Swiss Mission from 1902 to 1904.
Another valuable experience while in Europe was
an appointment to represent the State of Utah at
the first International Congress on School Hygiene
held at Nurnberg, Germany, April 4-9, 1904.
His return home signaled the resumption of an
acquaintance with Valeria Brinton. They were mar-
ried June 12, 1907. Three children were born
to them: Harriet (Mrs. Mitchell Cline), Jane (Mrs.
Rulon W. Rawson), and Eleanor (Mrs. Harris Van
Orden), all are living today.
The year 1910 saw the Young family in New York
on sabbatical leave from the University of Utah. At
Columbia that year Professor Young received his
master's degree in history. His specialty was western
history, and he pursued it vigorously, becoming an
articulate authority on the subject. In 1924 he spent
a season at McGill University and Laval University
in Montreal, reading and studying old French manu-
scripts dealing with the settlements of North America.
His stay in New York was highlighted by his ap-
pointment as a member of the First Council of the
Seventy. After the sustaining vote in the October
1909 conference, Elder John Henry Smith, of the
Council of the Twelve, journeyed east and set him
apart in New York on January 23, 1910. On his
return he was instructed by President Joseph F. Smith
to continue his teaching position at the University
of Utah. This he did until 1938, when he was called
to be president of the New England Mission. His
pattern while at the university was to teach his classes,
spend the late afternoon with seventies work, and go
to quarterly conferences on weekends. This was
interspersed in later years with tours of the various
missions in the United States.
He became the head of the Department of Western
History at the university in 1927. In addition to this
assignment he took over the archaeological work of
this department.
He was instrumental in cementing friendly and
happy relations with many who had opposed the
Church. This work resulted in an invitation to write
on the history of Utah and of the Church for the
LDS Church centennial edition of the Salt Lake
Tribune.
Following the publication of the article in a spe-
cial edition at the hundredth anniversary of the
founding of the Church, President Young became an
adviser to the Tribune on the LDS viewpoint, and he
had a large influence in shaping editorial writing. He
wrote many articles for this newspaper, interpreting
the Church and building goodwill. During this time
he presided over the Temple Square Mission from
1922 until 1935, improving its museum and serving
the strangers within our gates. The list of famous
people who enjoyed the hospitality of his home and
dinner table is a formidable one. A visitor who be-
came one of his closest friends was Admiral Richard
E. Byrd, who told him of his plans for exploring the
South Pole. In his list were politicians, ministers,
statesmen, authors, historians, each with his place in
the sun but willing to obtain a more accurate idea of
the Latter-day Saints.
Elder Young was appointed to represent the Church
on the local ministerial association of the Protestants
and Jews. His conciliatory attitude during these
JANUARY 1964
19
years gained many friends and served to reduce
prejudice. This friendship led indirectly to the op-
portunity to purchase the mission home in Cambridge,
Massachusetts, at 100 Brattle Street, bordering Long-
fellow Park. There was distinct opposition from the
ministerial association there, but his connection with
the Utah group gave him entree to that rather austere,
conservative, and formal Cambridge association, and
the members there became his friends. He was able
to persuade them to withdraw their opposition, after
which the purchase was consummated. While presid-
ing over the mission in New England he attended
Harvard, was given special invitation to all lectures
and programs and was provided with a special read-
ing room at the Widener Library of the university.
He was also successful in making friendship with
influential men which aided to erase prejudice. While
presiding over this mission, he gained an almost
reverential attitude toward New England, for here
was the place where much of the history of this
country was made. He felt that this call to serve
the Church as mission president in 1938 was a fitting
climax to his years of service at the University of
Utah. His ancestors came from Massachusetts, and
his paternal great-grandfather had been a revolu-
tionary soldier. The historical sites of great events
were visited, noted, commented upon, and their les-
sons taught to all who came within his influence. To
him the ground was hallowed by the patriots in
much the same way that the trials and the struggles
of the Utah pioneers hallowed and made sacred for-
ever the scenes of their struggles.
Nothing would disturb him more than to hear some-
one accuse the early Utah settlers of being uncouth
and uncultured. Forced to give up their cultural
attainments on being driven from their homes three
separate times, he loved to tell how under such cir-
cumstances their dignity was maintained, education
sought, manners taught, and the things which
fed the mind, soul, heart, and spirit were practised
in spite of almost insurmountable obstacles. A log
cabin did not mean to him that its builders
were uncouth.
Levi Edgar Young is a defender of this view-
point and with good reason. One had but to leave
the dignified family library with its walnut bookcases
filled with great books of all time, its cheerful hard-
coal burner in the center of the room, and walk
through the dining room with its walnut sideboard
gleaming with a silver service, out into the yard;
thence, through the back gate into Uncle Billy's
yard where one could skirt a log cabin 10 x 16 with a
slab roof. In this cabin Levi Riter had lived with
Grandma Rebecca Dilworth Riter, and here Eliza-
beth had been reared in the primitive poverty of the
pioneer; yet with the dignity of the civilized and cul-
tured convert. This was his theme, and he played
it, spoke it, loved it, proved it. All of us are more
keenly aware of the quality of the Utah Pioneers
because Levi Edgar Young raised his voice and lifted
his pen in defense of them as he knew them. He was
proof of it— he had been raised by pioneers from
poverty to cultural life.
As the researcher reviews the seemingly endless
stream of articles, essays, and doctrinal dissertations
which this man has produced, he comes to realize that
here is an artist who paints the joys and sorrows of
his people with words— and their ideals too. Reading
his textbook, The Founding of Utah, lifts one to want,
almost, to be a pioneer. Browsing through the many
articles he wrote for The Deseret News Seventy page,
one is enriched by historical background for our way
of life which he learned from extensive reading and
wide travel. He took pride in declaring that he had
read more good books than any man on the university
campus. Though a prolific reader, he was equally
prolific in sharing his knowledge. The writer has
talked to many who were his students and has yet
to hear one say that the classes Elder Young taught
were stale or lacking in interest. It wasn't a matter
of Custer being outnumbered and rubbed out on the
Little Big Horn. One was present at the war dance
the previous night and got the feel of Gall and Crazy
Horse, as Sitting Bull built up the fervor to stand up
to the "long swords" who would destroy them and
their families. One was made to feel sad for Little
Hair when Rain in the Face cut out his heart, but,
too, he was half glad that the doughty Sioux got
his revenge.
One reads, too, in his articles and responds equally
to the song of the Ute mother to her little one, or the
cradle hymn of the pioneer woman; of the crossing,
too, of the Colorado on the piebald ponies to meet
Jacob Hamblin, or the turning over of the state gov-
ernment to Alfred Cumming by Brigham Young
in 1858. (Continued on page 39)
20
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
HE WHO
WILL BE
CHIEF
BY JAY ELLIS RANSOM
For two weeks, the sun had barely
crawled above the frosty horizon, and now
it had disappeared altogether. Even the
brief twilight of midday could not dispel
the night-cold of the forest, where the
traplines crept out from the village to the
all-encompassing tundras.
Worry creased the forehead of young
Angus George as he kicked open the back
door of his mother's cabin and entering,
dumped an armload of kindling on the
kitchen floor beside the old rusty range.
Taking off his caribou skin parka, he hung
it behind the door.
Ever since his father's illness, the wel-
fare of his mother and sisters rested on his
fourteen-year-old shoulders. About the
' time that Tata had begun to feel the
pereeping illness soften his bones, Anna, his
graying-haired mother, had remarked:
"Oh, Angus, if only we could get lots
of furs this winter, Sarah could go to
boarding school. She would come back a
fine girl, and maybe marry a rich man!"
Thought-still, Angus turned to look at
his father on his pallet, a fox blanket
drawn up to his chin. Fever burned in
Tata's eyes, and his cheeks looked sucked-
in. Angus remembered that Teacher had
said it was tuberculosis, so common
among the people.
He turned his worried gaze to his
mother. Anna sat on the left side of the
21
'* V»
room, which was hers and her daughter's by right and
custom. She worked methodically on the ankle skin
of a caribou bull, shaping it with Trader's scissors
into the pattern of inner socks for Angus. Soon there
will be no more food in the cabin, he thought. It is
time I go to trap alone, even a year early.
And then, from outside the front door came the
murmur of low voices. The door was pushed inward,
and the four Elders-of-the-Village tiptoed in, brush-
ing the spindrift from their parkas. They nodded
briefly to Anna, to Angus. Then with Old Man at
the head they lined up alongside Tata, like a row of
fat brown owls. Old Man cleared his throat.
"It is not good, this sickness," he said, slowly. "We
have come to see what we can do."
Sudden hope brought a choking to Angus' voice. "I
ask permission to go on my father's trapline to get
the furs!"
The Elders turned, staring solemnly at him. Old
Man breathed heavily. "It is not the custom that you
should go alone to trap until you have lived fif-
teen winters."
"But I must go!" Angus' voice rose anxiously.
Old Man moved to a stool and sat down to think.
The Elders spread out along the wall on the right
side of the room and hunkered down. Tensely,
Angus waited.
"Bring the rifle," said Old Man, pointing to Tata's
shining Winchester hanging over the front door.
Angus handed it to him, his heart thumping.
Methodically, Old Man inspected the gun. Finally,
he held the weapon out to Angus. "Prepare the gun,"
he said.
Eagerly, Angus took it. He got the cleaning rag
and a can of oil from a wall cabinet. Then, breaking
the rifle at the breech, he passed the oily rag care-
fully through the barrel, turning it slowly with a
rod. Painstakingly, he oiled the lock and tested the
bolt action. When he had rubbed down the barrel
and adjusted the rear sight, Angus handed the rifle
back to Old Man. From hand to hand it passed as
the Elders examined it, while Angus felt the sweat
crawling down his back.
"It is bitter cold out," said Old Man thoughtfully.
"Tata's trapline is long," Many Smokes added.
"The ghost of Carcajou is in the valley," Big Foot
said. "I myself have seen his tracks."
Tata's tired voice sounded drained as he stirred on
his pallet. "It is a man's job," he said, hopelessly.
Old Man smiled faintly. "I am thinking that Angus
is near a man now. He was expert in preparing the
rifle. He will be careful with furs and resetting the
traps. You have taught him well, Tata. What do
you say, Big Foot? And you, Galu and Many Smokes?"
As one, the Elders nodded. Angus' heart leaped. "I
will not mind the cold and darkness," he said, weigh-
ing each word as befitted one who was now a man.
The Elders rose, and grouping themselves about
Tata's pallet, wished him better health on the morrow.
"Perhaps," Old Man said gently, "that by the time
you are well again, your son will have a new name
in the village."
When Angus awoke the next morning, his mother
prepared a man's breakfast for him. When he had
finished, he donned his parka and pack, and took
down Tata's rifle. "Take plenty of cartridges, Son,"
his father roused himself to say, "and matches!"
"Aye, Tata. And I have your belt knife." He
lifted the crossbar on the door.
"Angus! Do be careful!" His mother took a step
toward him. "I will have Medicine Man make a
chant so that Carcajou will not harm you."
Dawn was the under-white of ptarmigan breast as
he shuffled out of the village on long slim snowshoes.
The cold made his breath painful and his teeth ache.
Topping out about noon onto a low ridge, Angus
looked down into the Valley-of-Little-Sticks, which
was his father's ancestral trapping grounds. As he
descended into the long narrow valley, a ringing in
his eardrums warned him that everywhere the Bush-
men bided their time.
When he reached the spot where he and Tata had
set the first trap, he could not find it. Fresh snow
hid all signs. Removing his right snowshoe, Angus
used it as a scoop, and at last he uncovered the set,
dragged to the limit of its chain. A white fox, caught
many days before, had allowed itself to be killed.
With difficulty Angus lifted the trap and stared in
dismay at the mangled body, the skin ripped to shreds.
Then slow anger grew in him. A fox pelt bought a
sack of flour from Trader!
22
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
Grimly, he pried the carcass loose. Before placing
it securely in the limbs of the spruce overhead, he
stroked its broken nose, saying the ancient words that
would send its spirit to others of its kind to be re-
newed. Then he reset the trap, careful that no man-
scent would linger.
A short distance on, his sharp eyes found the de-
pressions of a cross trail, splayed and shuffling. Only
Carcajou, the Indian Devil, left such a trail! Fear
clogged his mind with foreboding.
By the time Angus had reached the sixth trap, he
was burning with anger. Every set was ruined or
dragged away; furs that his mother needed were
ripped to ribbons! The wolverine tracks grew fresher
as he approached the seventh trap, yet he found the
set untouched, the carcass of a martin in its steel
grip. He bent to remove it, then stopped. With the
hairs rising on his neck, he turned to face the bush.
Perhaps Carcajou had set a trap for him!
For a small eternity, Angus crouched, his eyes fol-
lowing the tracks. And then he saw it, a dark humped
form like a half -grown bear beneath a tangled wind-
fall. Cautiously, Angus raised his rifle to his cheek,
aiming just in front of the black shoulder. Greenish
eyes glared savagely at him, holding the boy by their
evil intensity. Angus cleared the safety and yanked
the trigger. The silence of the valley burst into
frenzied echoes, and where Carcajou had crouched,
only a white depression remained.
Fierce anger welled up in Angus' veins at the clean
miss. He remembered, then, what Old Man had told
all the boys when they came to puberty. "You must
earn your names, young Lads-of-the-People, and he
who kills a wolverine with a rifle shall become an
Elder. But he who kills Carcajou with only a knife
in his hands will become He-Who-Will-Be-Chief. And
that name, only, will change again when you are old.
It will become Old Man, and he who wears it will
be Chief-of-the-Village."
The trail led up the valley which, after three miles,
narrowed into a canyon beyond which Tata's cache
stood in a clump of spruces. Angus saw that the
defile was choked with snow avalanched down from
the steep slopes above, and his nerves crawled at this
new threat. Pausing only to remove his snowshoes,
Angus sighed and began the descent into the gorge,
carefully testing the snow slopes before creeking
across them with pack and snowshoes in his left
hand. At the bottom of the canyon, where a tangle
of trees and brush halted him so that he had to set
down his burden, Angus caught the rank odor of the
wolverine. He whirled in panic, but saw nothing.
Sudden terror swept over him, weakening his
muscles. Stories invaded his mind of how Carcajou
would attack anything that moved. The beast was
watching him, and he couldn't see it! Even as his
body stiffened, a harsh and menacing snarl came
from a black cavern under the bluff. Then, out of the
dimness of early twilight above him came an eerie
squealing that brought Angus sharply erect. A swatch
of loose snow landed on his head. In horror, he
raised his eyes to the snowfield above, watching it
move by fits and starts. It slipped without hurry,
little rivulets of granular drift sifting down ahead.
Before his stricken gaze, the whole mass tore loose
and, with an earth-shaking roar, plunged straight for
the spot where Angus stood.
There was but one way to go. Sobbing with
terror, the boy leaped into the wolverine's cave, just
as the avalanche roared overhead, carrying brush,
trees, and boulders in its mad descent to the can-
yon floor.
In the darkness of the cave, Carcajou backed away
from him, snarling and (Continued on page 38)
PRAIRIE IN MY BLOOD
BY MAUDE RUBIN
One time the way divided . . . Oceans voice
Sirened across the echoing, hollow night
Drawing my feet to follow; next day's choice
Was windblown harebells, clover's foaming white.
Something there was that held my feet to earth,
Guiding a ploughshare through this frost-white field;
Helping a mother ewe at April birth;
Learning to weigh the prairie harvest's yield.
Something there was that made me love the wind
As it combs the waves of grass in pasture land . . .
Old longing for the sea is disciplined
As I hold this snowy owlet in my hand!
And something there is that shelters us, I know,
Though the wind is from the north with the breath
of snow.
JANUARY 1964
23
0
Jl n A I\ tA*
i $M
BY GRANT MADISON
Winter is stock-taking time in my valley, spiritua
and materially. Vegetables, fruit, meat, and fish are
bottled, binned, or hanging from the roof of the attic.
Herbs have been dried and cotton bags of beans,
peas, and seed are suspended from the rafters. My
small cellar holds overflows of this or that necessity;
or some food luxury I found in that "prospector's
store," the mail order catalog, and just couldn't resist.
When everything is in order, you would think I was
expecting a siege. Well, you never know. Our little
branch railroad will be shut down until spring— anAt^
who can tell what fission will be doing? I agree1 with
the church welfare plan that each householder should
have a certain supply of food on hand so the im-
provident will not prey on the provident in
an emergency.
This seems a good time also to find out what might
be missing from my spiritual shelves and remedy
the lack, if possible— a good time also to look back
and estimate what soul-building I have done. After
the crisp garnering of fall and the slow, gray days
of winter, these bright spring days bring refreshment
to the heart.
24
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
Perhaps the moon has something to do with it,
too— that full moon which tonight is brimming my
valley with lunar waters, mysterious and beautiful.
There are full moons everywhere, of course, but it's
what they do to you that counts. It's that breathless,
unbelieving excitement that makes you tingle all
over with joy because you're alive here, now, this
moment, to see such glory. But it's a bit difficult to
feel that way when your neck is a crick of pain
from peering between tall buildings or over the heads
of people in a crowd. I know all about that.
I know, too, that the word difficult or its synonyms
is the one I hear most frequently when my life in
this mountain valley is under discussion. You would
think it was a crime to do without, make do, enjoy
hard work. Perhaps this is what is the matter with
our world. Everything but pleasure and soft living
has become too difficult— and perish the thought that
we should ever do anything we don't want to!
Work is considered a burden in these days, and
the man who labors for love of doing a good job is
considered soft and somehow suspect. We have be-
come experts in slow-down tactics: always appearing
to be busy, but actually accomplishing less in a day
than should go into three energetic hours. If some-
thing is hard, then it is put off until tomorrow— and
the man who keeps that tomorrow from coming is
considered a smart fellow.
This technique breeds evasions, excuses, self-right-
eous lies. So our moral fiber degenerates, inevitably
and surely. Then comes a crisis— and where are we?
Probably part of a mob scene that makes Techni-
color look like whitewash. We are pushing, yelling,
fighting— why? Because someone has climbed up on
a soapbox and told us to, or because everyone else
is doing it— two of the worst reasons in the world
for doing anything.
It isn't accident or merely conceit that makes a
dictator foster crowds, parades, and organizations. He
knows that when a lot of people get together they
speak and act off the top of their minds and can be
*
a yi i/v
turned like windmills by any breeze of eloquence.
We are such agreeable people, we moderns. We are
ready to agree with anyone about anything any-
where. Oh, we can criticize all right, for we're as
negative as electrons, but when we're asked for some
firm, positive statement that's when we turn up
missing. More and more I've seen our positiveness
recede and the queasy tide of negative thinking rise
higher and higher. We'll drown in it one day if we
don't watch out.
What we need is a belief in something. A belief so
strong that when the showdown comes our faith is
the only thing that matters. Yes, I know that faith
has gone out of fashion along with ideals, noblesse
oblige, and other kindly attributes which can make a
sun shine on the darkest day. Now expediency is our
watchword, and we are far more concerned with what
the other fellow thinks than with what we think our-
selves. If we do think! I sometimes wonder.
Yes, we need faith . . . and we need courage-
courage to back that faith with everything we have
and not to care who or how many are against us;
courage to do without, to make do, to get along
with little and care less. The gadgets of luxury
living can make mighty poor windbreaks when a
norther starts to blow.
Sometimes I speak like this to people who talk as
if gadgets were the be-all and the end-all of existence.
Some of them listen and are silent. Others look at
me as though my head were a box of bolts, loose
and rattling. I wouldn't fight for a gadget. But I'd
fight for these mountains, these rivers, and for what
they mean to me; for the right to say what I wish
and do what I wish as long as that saying and that
doing hurts no one else; for the right to make my own
way without handouts and without drawstrings. For
the right to read and dream and lie in the sun— and
to work the clock around if that seems like a good
idea. For the right to believe in God without being
laughed at or spat upon.
I want to tell the truth, as I see it, without fear,
and show love without deception. I want to worry
about my neighbors and help them to be better than
I've ever been. I suppose you can sum it all up by
saying that I want to live— "live," I said, not exist. I
don't want to crawl around the earth like an insect;
I want to walk tall like a man. My head may be in the
stars, but my feet, I pray, will grip this good brown
earth so firmly, that they'll always keep me facing
the realities of life.
i if M ft
25
One day a young man came to see me at Brigham
Young University. I had heard that he was planning
to get married between college semesters. He was a
member of the Aaronic Priesthood, about eighteen
years old, with a great potential, with plans for a
mission in his future, and I was somewhat alarmed by
the report. He told me how he felt, that he desired
to be married, that the girl, who lived in another state,
was not a member of the Church. Every chance he
had he went to visit with her over the weekends. He
said, "She understands me; she loves me."
I reasoned with him, "You realize how serious it is
that this girl is not a member of our church? You
must see the implications of that in your life. They
are eternal. This will mean you will marry out of the
temple and marry out of the faith. Think of the signifi-
cance of that throughout all of the years you are going
to live together. Think of the impact of that upon
your children."
"Yes, I know, but my hope is that I can convert
her, and she will be baptized, and then someday we
can get married in the temple."
Again I reasoned with him, "Don't you realize that
of all of those who plan to get married in the temple,
but who initially marry outside of the temple, a very
high percentage never do? Now these couples are
not those who wonder if they will get married in the
temple or not. These couples fully intended to get
married in the temple. These are they who say as
they go into this temporal marriage 'no question about
it. I am going to get married in the temple. It is a
matter of a year or two. A few things in our lives
to get ready, to get worthy, and then we will be
married.' Of this group an extremely high per-
centage never get married in the temple. Brother,
you and I both know the chances of your ever getting
married in the temple are very slim."
Then he turned and tears welled up in his eyes as
he said, "But, Bishop, I love her."
Logic— that was my language. What was his lan-
guage? What was it that concerned him primarily?—
his feeling, his emotion, his sentiment! What happens
when you talk the language of logic to an individual
who understands the language of sentiment? How
can you communicate?
This to me is an enormous problem that we have
with our youth in the Church— the logic of eternity
versus the sentiment of the moment— and I would like
to give my analysis of this problem in terms of what
I call "filling the void," filling the gap. I want to
outline three voids or three gaps which I believe
must be filled before we can successfully solve this
widespread problem.
The first void or gap is this: People in their youth,
during their teen-age period, are at the crossroads of
life's decisions— that is, the decisions which they are
making at this time are more crucial and more strate-
gic in the impact upon their life than perhaps at any
other time in their life. By far, also, it is the most
impressionable period. They are most vulnerable to
the feelings of other people, particularly to what is
called their peer groups— their friends, their gangs.
Communicating with Our Youth
Fl LU NG
THE
BY STEPHEN R. COVEY
PRESIDENT, IRISH MISSION
VOID
26 , Tk .
^B8BHBI@8teiMw*
This presents us with a dilemma: the nature of the
activity and the decision— long-range; the nature of
the emotional perspective— short-range.
Should I go on a mission? Should I go on to col-
lege? What career should I go into? Should I get
married? Whom should I marry? Should it be a
temple marriage? Every one of these questions is an
eternally significant question because essentially each
amounts to a man's life in the probationary period and
is tremendously far-reaching. But yet we realize that
people are motivated by their emotions, how they
feel about things. If they feel strongly about eternal
things, they tend to act on that eternal, long-range
perspective. But when we are immature, when we
are susceptible to the policing of other people's opin-
ions—particularly our gang, our group— then something
happens to that emotional perspective. It reduces in
size and becomes short.
Our youth may intellectually understand this
dilemma, this gap, this void— but it is the emotion out
of which people act, how they feel about things, not
what they think about them, and this is particularly
so the less mature they are.
The second gap or void compounds the first prob-
lem, for it is built upon it.
Inasmuch as the decisions have long-range conse-
quences, and the perspective is short, who is to bridge
the gap? Obviously the authority people in their life,
people who have had more extensive experience, who
have had the wisdom of years and years, for they
have gone through similar problems, and they know
Excerpted from a BYU devotional address.
what is happening— teachers, leaders, and above all
and most importantly, parents. But here is the real
gap. There exists with most people, in my opinion,
who are in their teens, a huge communication barrier
between them and their parents— a huge gap, a huge
void, so that they tend not to listen to the wisdom of
their parents. They tend to discount their parents,
to write them off as not really understanding them, as
not really caring, as just preaching and moralizing
and evaluating and judging and lecturing. All of these
kinds of emotional attitudes they often see in their
parents and other adult authorities.
A survey was taken among teen-agers, and the
question was asked: Do you feel close to your parents
so that you would go to your parents if you had per-
sonal problems? A very high percentage said they
do not feel close to their parents. They would not
go to their parents, and they would not go to their
teachers in their schools or in the Church because they
would only get one major response— judgment, a lec-
ture, a moral teaching. "They don't understand me.
They don't really care. They are just preaching to me
again. I don't want to go to my father; I already
know what he will tell me. I can predict it."
You see, the assumption is often made by parents
and teachers and leaders that merely an intellectual
understanding of right and wrong is adequate to
motivate people to do what is right. But we have
seen that our youth have often the intellectual perspec-
tive that is long-range; but what about their feelings
about these and other (Continued on page 42)
Genealogical Procedures for 1964
During the first and second quarters of 1964, members
of the priesthood genealogical committee will be as-
signed to visit the stakes of the Church. A new
program of interest to all church members will be
presented by these genealogical conference visitors.
Under the leadership of President N. Eldon Tanner
of the First Presidency, genealogy has received new
impetus and is going forward under the direction of
the Melchizedek Priesthood of the Church.
Most stakes have been assigned to regions, and in
each of the 62 regions there have been chosen from
the stake presidents in that region a priesthood welfare
chairman, a priesthood missionary chairman, a priest-
hood genealogical chairman, and a priesthood home
teaching chairman, whose job it will be to co-ordinate
the four phases of priesthood activity in the stakes
of his region.
As well as the regular stake quarterly conferences
each region will hold four additional meetings
throughout the year, and to these regional meetings
will be sent representatives of the priesthood home
teaching committee, the priesthood missionary com-
mittee, the priesthood genealogical committee, and
the priesthood welfare committee. In these regional
meetings follow-up instructions will be given and
discussions will be held on the programs that will
have been introduced in the quarterly sessions
of conference.
The genealogical regional meetings will be held
during the third quarter of the year.
The program to be presented in stake quarterly
conferences during 1964 will include some new facets
of genealogical activity.
A record examination program in every stake and
mission of the Church will be introduced. In the
missions, each district will be expected to have two
record examiners, and all family group sheets are to
be checked by these district record examiners before
the sheets are submitted for processing.
In the stakes, each ward will be expected to have
two record examiners, and all sheets compiled by
members of that ward must be approved by the ward
Pertinent Questions Answered
QUESTION:
The standards of record keeping contained in the Genealogical Instruc-
tion Manual relate to the data processing family group record, which
I am told is no longer being printed. Should the standards of record
keeping contained in the manual be adapted to the old-style horizontal
family group sheet?
ANSWER:
Yes. While the placement of certain items on the horizontal family
group record is different from that on the data processing sheet, the
manner of recording the many items of identification, for the most part,
remains the same.
Only in the following areas will adaptations need to be made.
RECORDING OF NAMES
1. The occupation of the husband
should be recorded in parentheses fol-
lowing the recording of his name.
Example: WARD, John David
(Shoemaker)
2. The number indicating whether the
husband is the first, second, third, etc.,
husband of the wife whose name ap-
pears on the family group record
should be recorded in parentheses
in front of his name.
Example: (1) WARD, John David
(Farmer)
3. The old-style horizontal family
group record provides space for the
recording of fifteen children. In those
instances where there are more than
Instruction
Manual
Reference
Section 2
Page 21
Section 2
Page 28
Section 2
Page 42
fifteen children in a family, the in-
structions appearing in section 2, page
42 should be followed.
4. If one or more of the children listed
on a family group record is a progeni-
tor, that is a direct ancestor, an "X"
should be placed in front of that child's
name.
Example: X ROGERS, Joseph
Benjamin
5. Second and subsequent marriages
of children should be recorded on the
bottom of the family group record, as
should details of any illegitimate chil-
dren born to an individual who is listed
as a child on a family group record.
Only in those instances where there
is insufficient space on the bottom of
Section 2
Page 43
Section 2
Page 50
28
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
record examiners before the records are submitted to
the Genealogical Society in Salt Lake City. A large
number of the records that are received at the Gene-
alogical Society contain errors that will be corrected
through this new record examination program before
the sheets are submitted to the Genealogical Society.
Another new program that will be introduced in
1964 is the pedigree referral service, which is aimed
at reducing duplication of research work. Members
of the Church will be asked to submit details of the
surnames on which research has or is presently being
done by them or the family organization of which
they are a part and the locality in which that work is
being carried out. This information will be fed into
a computer. Before starting research church members
will be encouraged to use this referral service to de-
termine whether others have done work on the pedi-
gree lines in which they have interest that they may
co-operate with them thereafter.
New priesthood lessons on genealogy and temple
work will be taught in the Melchizedek Priesthood
■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■
the sheet to record details of second
and subsequent marriages of children
and a continuation of the listings of
sources of information, should the re-
verse side of the sheet be used.
Apart from these changes, the stand-
ards in section two of the instruction
manual should be followed.
RECORDING OF DATES
Dates of Birth and Christening
1. If both the date of birth and the
date of christening are known, both
should be entered. The date of birth
should be recorded in the upper part
of the space marked "When Born" pre-
ceded by the letter "b." (for born).
The date of christening, preceded by
the abbreviation "chr." should be en-
tered in the lower part of the space.
Example: b. 16 Sep 1768
chr. 17 Sep 1768
2. If only the date of christening is
known, it should be entered in the
space headed "When Born" and the
date of entry should be preceded by
chr.
Example: chr. 6 May 1790
Calculated Years of Birth
3-A. If an age at death or burial is to
be recorded for the husband or the
wife on a family group record, the age
should be recorded in parentheses in
Instruction
Manual
Reference
Section 3
Page 2
Section 3
Pages 9, 57
quorums in 1964. Details of these lessons will be
discussed in the leadership sessions of the gene-
alogical quarterly conference so that greater priest-
hood participation can be effected in the family
genealogical classes held on MIA night and in the
Sunday School genealogical training class.
The program for Saturday evening session of the
genealogical quarterly conference has been planned
for all members of the Church and has been espe-
cially designed to strengthen family ties. A motion
picture will be presented, demonstrating the eternal
nature of the Latter-day Saint family and the im-
portance of preparing our young people for temple
marriage, leading to eternal lives. Every member of
the Church is encouraged to attend this and the other
general sessions of stake quarterly conference.
The year 1964 will also see the publication of a new
Genealogical Executive Handbook which is designed
for all leaders in the priesthood and for members of
stake and ward genealogical committees.
The year 1964 will be a notable one for genealogy.
front of the date to which it refers.
Example: (ae 75) 6 Sep 1867
3-B. If an age at death or burial is to
be recorded for a child on a family
group record, the age should be re-
corded in parentheses above the date
to which it refers.
(ae 47) bur. (ae 47)
Example: 6 May 1760 6 May 1761
Marriage Licenses, Intentions to Marry,
Marriages by License, Annulled Mar-
riages, etc.
4. The entries 'lie" and "int" and "by
lie" etc. should be recorded in front of
the date to which it refers.
Marriages of Children
Section 3
Page 63
Section 3
Page 42
Section 3
Page 53
5. Details of second and subsequent
marriages of children should be listed
on the bottom of the family group
record, as should details of illegiti-
mate children born to an individual
who is listed as a child on a sheet.
Only in those instances where there
is insufficient space on the bottom of
the sheet to record details of second
and subsequent marriages of children
and a continuation of the listings of
sources of information, should he re-
verse side of the sheet be used.
(Continued on page 39)
JANUARY 1964
29
BY DAVID H. YARN, JR.
PROFESSOR OF PHILOSOPHY,
BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY
[HE
FUMC
In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints there are many offices and callings.
Some are general offices, having jurisdiction over some or all aspects of the entire
Church, and others are local offices, having jurisdiction over some or all aspects of a
given geographical area of the Church.
In both the general and the local types of offices there are two fundamental kinds
of offices, some are priesthood offices and others are auxiliary offices.
On both the general and the local levels, in both
priesthood and auxiliary offices in the great majority of
instances, the specific organizations are presided over by
a presidency (or its counterpart) consisting of three
persons. ( Seventies presidencies and a literal descendant
of Aaron as the Presiding Bishop, should there be such,
are striking exceptions.)
When a presiding quorum is to be organized, be it the presidency of the Church,
the presidency of a stake, a bishopric, the presidency of a quorum, or the head of an aux-
iliary, it is the president (or bishop, or superintendent) who is chosen and appointed by
the authorizing body. The president (bishop or superintendent) is given the prerogative
of choosing his counselors (or assistants), with the approval of the authorizing body.
The keys of authority of the partic-
ular jurisdiction center in the presi-
dent. He is the one who is called
and made responsible for a particular
work. Therefore, the counselors are
counselors to the president.
Illustrative of this point is a statement of the Prophet Joseph Smith concerning the relation of the Twelve
to the First Presidency. He said: ". . . the Twelve are not subject to any other than the first Presidency,
viz., myself, . . . Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams, who are now my Counselors; and where I am
not, there is no First Presidency over the Twelve.'"1 (Italics added.) Though in this instance the Prophet
was speaking specifically regarding the relation of the Twelve to the First Presidency, he spoke generically
regarding the nature of presidencies. In effect he said, where there is no president there is no presi-
dency, or, where there is no bishop there is no bishopric, etc. Counselors receive both their authority and
responsibility because of their calling as counselors to the president, and both their authority and respon-
sibility cease when the president is replaced.
However, being counselors to the president does not mean the counselors are without specific responsi-
bilities of their own. The president, upon examining the total responsibilities of his jurisdiction and the
abilities, aptitudes, experience, and general qualifications of his counselors, delegates certain definite
responsibilities to each of them. It is imperative that the counselors, as well as the president, learn their
duties and perform them as faithfully as they know how. Counselors' having specific duties delegated to
them does not, of course, absolve the president of ultimate responsibility for them, but inasmuch as definite
COUNSELORS
iSmith, Joseph, History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, ed. B. H. Roberts, 2, p. 374.
30
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
assignments are made to their counselors, presidents
should not circumvent but honor their counselors in
working through them in accomplishing their duties.
In all of their work, however, the counselors should
never lose sight of the fact that they are called to
aid and assist the president. They should give their
considered opinions and best judgment to him in all
matters pertaining to their joint callings. They should
counsel frankly and directly. They are not called
merely to nod their heads in agreement, but to give
full expression to their views on the business at
hand. There should be no private motives fostered
in the counsel given, but all should be done with
an eye single to furthering the work of our
Father's kingdom.
Inasmuch as the president holds the keys and bears
the ultimate responsibility for a given work, after
matters have been considered, it is his prerogative
and obligation to make the decisions. Similarly the
counselors are obligated to sustain and support the
president's decisions. Therefore, when decisions are
made, they are the decisions of the presidency, and
there should be complete unity of feeling and action
on a given matter irrespective of views expressed
prior to the rendering of the decision. In other words,
the counselors should be fully loyal to the president.
Illustrative of the foregoing, on one occasion Presi-
dent Joseph F. Smith said:
"A bishop is the presiding officer of his ward, and
where the bishop is in the ward, his counselors and
those who are members of his ward are subject to his
presidency. He cannot yield it up. He cannot give
it to another; or, if he does, he violates one of the
sacred principles of the government of the priest-
hood. He may direct his counselors, the first or the
second, to do his will, to carry out his wishes, to
execute his desires, or his commands; but in so doing
the counselor does not act as the bishop, but he acts
under the direction of the' presiding authority. He
does not act independently of the bishop, but sub-
ordinate to the bishop, and is subject entirely to the
bishop's direction. . . . We can commission and
appoint; that is, those who preside can call upon their
aids for assistance, they can direct them to accomplish
labors, but in every instance when they do, it is
by and with and under the consent of the presiding
authority, and by his advice, but not independently. . . .
". . . In all these things the presiding officer is the
head, should be regarded in his place, and his place
should be held sacred in the minds of his associates.
And no man possessing a correct understanding of
the spirit of the gospel and of the authority and law
of the Holy Priesthood will attempt for a moment to
run before his file leader or to do anything that is not
strictly in harmony with his wish and the authority
that belongs to him. The moment a man in a sub-
ordinate position begins to usurp the authority of
his file leader, that moment he is out of his place,
and proves by his conduct that he does not compre-
hend his duty, that he is not acting in the line of his
calling, and is a dangerous character. He will set
bad examples, he will mislead, he will lead others
into error . . . the moment he acts contrary to and inde-
pendent of the direction of his presiding officer; and
if he continues in that course he will go astray
entirely, and those who follow him will follow
him astray."2
Finally, let it be said that the members of a presi-
dency should work together. Counselors should not
only try to perform their specific duties by assign-
ment, but they should assist the president fully in
striving for the success of the entire program. In
turn the president should give full recognition to
his counselors.
Consistent with the basic principle that counselors
are called as counselors to a president, to aid and
assist him, when the president is released the coun-
selors are automatically released also.
2Smith, President Joseph F., Gospel Doctrine (Fifth Edition), 1939,
pp. 185-186.
JANUARY 1964
31
Except
the Lord build
the House
BY GORDON B. HINCKLEY
OF THE COUNCIL OF THE TWELVE
DELIVERED OVER THE COLUMBIA BROADCASTING SYSTEM
"CHURCH OF THE AIR," SUNDAY,
OCTOBER 6, 1963
• •*••*
•
•
»
9
m
_ •
•
9
m
•
«
V
i
..•*
-•*•
•
„•'
•
>#
*
*
. . . how long can we go on with a nine percent in-
crease in youth arrests each year?
. . . the Mormons take it for granted that God knows
our familiar names and titles, and will ask a blessing
on a particular individual by name.
As I speak to you I am aware that I have come into your homes
as your guest. I should like to talk with you about our
homes. I am confident that you feel some concern, as do I, for
the homes of America.
Recently I thumbed through the summary of the FBI Uni-
form Crime Report for 1962. In a few words and with a few
charts it told a disturbing story— a six percent increase in serious
crimes in the period of a single year, a nine percent increase
in auto thefts, arrests of young people under eighteen up nine
percent, with female arrests increasing at a faster rate than male
arrests. The question that came to mind immediately was how
long can we go on with a nine percent increase in youth arrests
each year?
One of our national magazines recently carried these words
on the cover: "Morality USA. Do we need a new code to solve
our crisis of immorality? Have our churches failed? Has money
become God? Is sexual morality gone?" (Look, September 24,
1963.) I read this provocative article. I have read others of
similar tone written by men of government, industry, and educa-
tion who have expressed themselves with deep concern over
the moral crisis that evidently is sweeping across the land.
I am not one to believe that all was good in the long ago,
and that all is bad today. I think this is the greatest age the
world has known. But I am also confident that there is trouble
in the land.
The article referred to above states: "We are witnessing the
death of the old morality. . . . The established moral guidelines
have been yanked from our hands. We are left floundering in a
money-motivated, sex-obsessed, big city dominated society. We
must figure out for ourselves how to apply the traditional moral
principles to the problems of our times. Many find this burden
too heavy." ( Idem, p. 74. )
I should like to add that many of our youth will not and
cannot figure out for themselves how to apply the traditional
moral principles. They find this burden much too heavy. They
must have help. They must have guidance. They must
have example.
Private and public morality are rooted in the homes of the
people. No nation is stronger than its homes. It is in the
home that examples of virtue are best caught and lessons of
virtue are best taught.
It was said of old, "Except the Lord build the house, they
labour in vain that build it." (Psalm 127:1.)
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
We could not expect a miracle in a day, but in a
generation we would have a miracle.
And so I welcome this opportunity to talk with
you, and particularly you parents of the youth of
America, on a theme on which I have expressed myself
previously, and one which I feel is timely.
All agree that we need a new emphasis on honesty,
character, and integrity. All agree that only as we
build again into the fiber of our lives the virtues which
are the essence of true civilization will the pattern
of our times change. The question that confronts us
is, where shall we begin?
I am satisfied that it must begin with recognition
of God as our Eternal Father, of our relationship to
him as his children, with communication with him in
recognition of his sovereign position, and with daily
supplication for his guidance in our affairs.
I submit that a return to the old pattern of prayer,
family prayer in the homes of the people, is one of the
simple medicines that would check the dread disease
that is eroding the fiber of our character. We could
not expect a miracle in a day, but in a generation we
would have a miracle.
A generation or two ago family prayer in the homes
of Christian people throughout the world was as
much a part of the day's activity as were the meals.
As that practice has diminished, our moral decay has
ensued. I fear that as the quality of our housing has
improved, the spirit of our homes has deteriorated.
The discipline that is needed in our lives is the
discipline that comes from within. Many are crying
for more legislation and stricter law enforcement.
I do not disparage these as expedients, but I fear
they are only expedients. Virtue, integrity, honesty
do not come of imposition from without. They are
the fruits of good teaching and good example, and
that teaching and that example are best followed
when they are found in the home.
Paul of old declared to Timothy: "This know also,
that in the last days perilous times shall come.
"For men shall be lovers of their own selves,
. . . blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthank-
ful, unholy,
"Without natural affection, . . . despisers of those
that are good,
"Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures
more than lovers of God." (2 Tim. 3:1-4.)
His words fit in a remarkable way the conditions
described in the magazine article to which I have
referred. Simple as it may sound, I think daily
prayer in the homes of the nation would in a genera-
tion lift our heads above the flood that evidently
is engulfing us.
I feel satisfied that there is no adequate substitute
for the morning and evening practice of kneeling
together before the Lord— father, mother, and chil-
dren. The very practice of kneeling together with
thankful hearts evaporates some of those qualities
described by Paul: "Disobedient to parents, without
natural affection."
There is something in the very posture of kneeling
that contradicts some of the attitudes he noted:
"Proud, heady, highminded."
The inclination to be unholy, as Paul described it,
to be unthankful, is erased as together the family
thanks the Lord for life and peace and all they have.
And as they thank the Lord for one another there
is developed within the family a new appreciation, a
new respect, a new affection one for another.
I know of nothing that will ease family tensions,
that in a subtle way will bring about that respect for
parents which leads to obedience, that will effect a
spirit of repentance which will largely erase the blight
of broken homes, than will praying together, verbally
confessing our weakness before the Lord, and invok-
ing the blessings of the Lord upon the home and
those who dwell there.
In remembering together before the Lord the poor,
the needy, and the oppressed there is developed,
unconsciously but realistically, a love for others above
self, a respect for others, a desire to serve the
needs of others.
One cannot ask God to help a neighbor in distress,
without feeling motivated to do something oneself.
What miracles would happen in the lives of the
children of America if they would lay aside their
selfishness and lose themselves in the service of
others. The seed from (Continued on page 56)
JANUARY 1964
33
"Constancy amid change" seems to be a phrase
which could well characterize the story of the
Church in the twentieth century. The major ob-
jectives and doctrines of the Church— its basic con-
cern for the salvation of mankind and its desire
to broadcast the gospel of Christ as restored through
Joseph Smith— have all remained constant. Great
changes, however, took place within the Church as
it began to integrate itself more fully with national
life and economics and, eventually, with the prob-
lems of effective world-wide expansion. New
problems, new leadership, and new strength from
expanding numbers, political influence, and financial
growth all contributed to this changing pattern of
church influence. As we study the twentieth cen-
tury, therefore, we should have some of these things
in mind in order to try to determine how and why
the Church became what it is today. A basic rea-
son for studying the history of the Church, it should
be remembered, is to explain the present— to under-
stand the various forces which have helped make
the Church what it is today and, in a very real sense,
helped make each person what he is because of
his church membership. We briefly enumerate,
therefore, some of the significant changes which have
taken place.
1. The membership of the Church has increased
tremendously. The Church has grown from approxi-
mately 236,300 in the year 1900 to more than two
million in 1963, and forty stakes of Zion have multi-
plied to nearly 400.
2. Directly contributing to the growth of the
Church has been a renewed concept of the world-wide
nature of the Church. Instead of encouraging con-
verts to emigrate from their homeland and cast their
lots with the Saints in Utah, the Church now encour-
ages them to stay at home and to build up Zion in
their native lands. The results have been a dwindling
hm
in
CONDUCTED BY THE
UNIFIED CHURCH
SCHOOL SYSTEM
xf\
Let's Study
the
Twentieth
Century
34
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
of Utah's significance in percentage of total church
population (today approximately twenty -five percent
of the population of the Church lives in Utah as
compared with seventy-three percent in 1900), a
migration of many Utah-born Mormons to other
parts of America where economic opportunity beck-
oned (in 1900, for example, only a handful of church
members made their homes in California, but by 1960
approximately 12.4 percent of the population of the
Church dwelt in this state), and an unprecedented
move to build temples in various parts of the world,
the establishment of stakes of Zion on the European
continent and the Southern Hemisphere and, gen-
erally, a greater bond of brotherhood between mem-
bers of the Church of diverse races and nationalities.
3. With the expansion of missionary work has come
a new evaluation of the missionary program and its
techniques, resulting in a world-wide mission confer-
ence in which a new and unified systematic program
of teaching the gospel was officially adopted for all
the missions of the Church.
4. Since 1896 the publicity given the Church has
been vastly different and disseminated more effec-
tively to the world. Furthermore, the active partici-
pation of outstanding Latter-day Saints in diverse
phases of American life has brought a different sort
of national recognition and great new respect for the
Church. To name only a few such men: James E.
Talmage, John A. Widtsoe, and Henry Eyring in
various fields of science; Reed Smoot, J. Reuben
Clark, Jr., and Ezra Taft Benson in national and
international politics; J. Willard Marriot and George
Romney in the business world. These and many
others have helped create a new image of the typical
Mormon for the twentieth century investigator.
5. The rapid growth of the Church has necessitated
the augmenting of the organization of the Church.
Although the Council of the Twelve previously had
BY DR. JAMES B. ALLEN / Assoc- professor, college of religious instruction, brigham young university
JANUARY 1964
39
various assistants, not until this cen-
tury did the position of "Assistant to
the Twelve" become a part of the
organization of the General Authori-
ties. The regional grouping of stakes
for welfare and educational purposes,
the grouping of missions into various
regional organizations, and the vastly
expanding facilities of the various
departments of the church offices in
Salt Lake City are all part of the
continuing change which must take
place in the organization of an
ever-growing Church. A most sig-
nificant development in the 1960's
has been the re-creation of an all-
church co-ordinating council, headed
by Elder Harold B. Lee of the
Council of the Twelve. This coun-
cil, acting in an advisory capacity to
the General Authorities, is designed
to augment greatly the effectiveness
of church administration.
6. In the field of education many
significant changes have come in the
twentieth century. Church-owned
academies, once a major service of
education in the intermountain
states, were abandoned in favor of
public education. Added to the
program of the Church, however, is
the seminary program for high
school students and the institutes of
religion for college students, pro-
viding off-campus religious in-
struction and counseling for LDS
students in non-church schools. In
addition, the dynamic growth of
Brigham Young University as well
as the support given to other church
colleges is evidence of continued
high-level interest in education.
Other church schools have recently
seen great expansion. The cost of
education is a big. part of the annual
budget of the Church.
7. A most important development
in the twentieth century is the wel-
fare program. While not a change
in philosophy, as far as the church's
responsibility toward its members is
concerned, it is a dramatic program
developed to meet current and pos-
sible future needs of the Church in
welfare work.
8. One effect of the twentieth cen-
tury upon the Church is seen in the
changing occupational status of its
members. Nineteenth century Mor-
monism was largely an agrarian so-
ciety, although some industry had
found its way into Utah. By the
middle of this century, however,
only twenty-three percent of the
members of the Church were en-
gaged in agricultural pursuits. ( John
A. Widtsoe, The Improvement Era,
March 1952, p. 143. ) This, of course,
is a reflection of a changing econ-
omy in which church members
naturally participated. It is having
a telling effect upon the image pre-
sented by the Church to the world,
however, and is an illustration of
the role that external forces often
play in the development of church
history.
9. Another development of the
twentieth century has been the
great improvement in the financial
structure of the Church. The
twentieth century inherited a Church
heavily in debt. Since the time of
President Joseph F. Smith, however,
the Church has moved out of
debt. During President Heber J.
Grant's administration the policy
was adopted of reserving parts of
church income against possible peri-
ods of business depression.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
BY JOHN McNAIR
Mixed with learning, a dash of rea-
soning
Adds to knowledge the spice of
seasoning,
Which sprinkled through each
thought expressed,
Gives the meat of conversation zest!
10. The growth of the Church in
the twentieth century has brought
into its program many professional
services and made them an essen-
tial part of church administration.
While the Church still holds to the
important ideal of voluntary, unpaid
ecclesiastical service, its vast pro-
gram has made it necessary to em-
ploy full-time professional people in
a wide variety of occupations. These
positions include secretaries, build-
ing supervisors, architects, drafts-
men, school administrators, teachers
on all academic levels, experienced
operators of high speed business
machines, business executives, law-
yers, social workers, technicians in
all phases of the building trades,
gardeners, custodians, and many
others. It is interesting to note that
today the Church offers career op-
portunities in many of these fields.
It is obviously impossible to dis-
cuss all the interesting and far-
reaching developments which have
begun to mark the second half of
the twentieth century. A few addi-
tional items, however, should at
least be mentioned.
The world-wide growth of the
Church has caused a widening of
scope in the activities of the General
Authorities. Their increased travel
responsibilities take them now to
almost every major area of the
world, except Soviet Russia and the
mainland of China.
The growth of the Church has
also brought about a dynamic
mushrooming of its global building
program. Approximately 1,000 build-
ing projects are either on the draw-
ing boards, being approved, or
under construction. These include
chapels throughout the world, office
buildings, church college and uni-
versity buildings, and buildings to
house seminary and institutes of
religion. All this work is directed
by the church building department
in Salt Lake City.
A significant twentieth century de-
velopment in the building program
is the use of multiple ward chapels.
Chapels now being built are de-
signed for the use of at least two
wards, and sometimes three. Thus
the finest facilities may still be
provided to each ward as continued
growth causes constant divisions.
Two buildings of special signifi-
cance have recently been announced
by the Church. The first is a large
office building now being con-
structed in Salt Lake City. Such a
building is needed to house the
rapidly expanding administrative
offices of the Church, as well as the
office and library of the church his-
torian and facilities for auxiliary
organizations.
The second proposed building is a
skyscraper to be built in New York
City. This will house the New York
Stake and the Manhattan Ward. It
will also serve as headquarters of
the Eastern States Mission. Space
not immediately used by the Church
will be leased to other groups for
office space.
Showing its continued interest in
the education of its youth, the
Church has in recent years estab-
lished a new program of church
36
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
activity on college campuses. Be-
ginning at BYU, the college students
were organized into stakes and
wards and branches, pertaining to
their own universities and colleges.
Now where such are available, a
student away from home is in-
structed to become part of the col-
lege ward in connection with the
institution he attends, no matter
where he lives in town.
An interesting move was an-
nounced in October 1962, with the
purchase of a short-wave radio sta-
tion in Boston and New York over
which general conferences and other
church programs may be heard in
many parts of the world, symboliz-
ing the continued unity of the
Church in its global activities.
Finally, it must again be noted
that one of the most important
moves of the Church in recent
years has been the organization of
stakes in countries outside the
United States in Mexico and Can-
ada. A Latin-American stake was
created in 1961 in Mexico City. The
THE
SPOKEN
WORD a
HABITS: "COBWEBS, THEN
CABLES"
RICHARD L. EVANS
In this whole broad subject of self-control, one phase not sufficiently pur-
sued is that of habits we have. That we are "creatures of habit"1 is a
commonly accepted comment. But habits are not inherent, not inevitable,
not alterable. Habits may become deeply fixed upon us, good or bad,
but the bad habits, it sometimes seems, tie themselves to us more tena-
ciously—perhaps because bad habits often have to do with appetites,
with habit-forming, enslaving substances, with things that create a craving,
and sometimes even with things that appeal to the baser side of ourselves.
There is an old Spanish proverb that says: "Habits are at first cobwebs,
then cables."2 But never can we safely concede that we are helpless
before our habits. If we form habits in the first place, which we do, we
must be able to break them, which we can; change them, which we must
if they are wrong habits. With our habits, or against them, we must not
do that which our better sense or our better selves would not suggest,
or that which would create an unquiet conscience. If we were to concede
that the habits we acquire are beyond our control, we would be conceding
virtual enslavement. "We first make our habits, and then our habits make
us,"3 wrote John Dryden. Choosing and controlling our habits is a vitally
important part of life's process. This suggests the importance of early
guidance, of home influence and example. A childish act may seem
inconsequential. But a trend or tendency is not inconsequential. An atti-
tude is not inconsequential. What to begin with, seems to be something
we can take or leave, may become something we feel we must have.
"Just this once" may lead to "just once more." Once more may lead to
many more until we have a habit. Concerning someone who gambled
and explained that he had only played for a "trifle," Plato replied: "The
habit is not a trifle."4 Despite all explanations, all excuses, all rationalizing,
the laws of life, the laws of health, the commandments are in force, and
we must have the character and conviction to control, to change, to make
or break or abandon the habits we have. We can form good habits or
break bad habits— if we want to. But nothing much is done unless
we want to.
iGeorge B. Cheever (1807-90), American clergyman.
2Spanish proverb.
3John Dryden (1631-1700), English poet and author.
*Plato, quoted by Montaigne in his Essays, bk I, ch. 23.
"The Spoken Word," from Temple Square, presented over KSL and the Columbia
Broadcasting System, November 10, 1963, Copyright 1963.
first European stake was created
earlier the same year at Rotterdam,
Holland. Thus the policy of build-
ing up Zion throughout the world
is being realized in the current era,
and the organization of stakes
brings the full advantages of the
Church as well as increased respon-
sibility to members of the Church,
world-wide.
Some Modern Problems
It should not be assumed, of
course, that the growth of the
Church has come without a multi-
tude of problems. In the field of
church administration, for example,
it is apparent that officials face a
heavy task in co-ordinating the
multiple activities in which the
Church is engaged. At the local
level are also great problems. Here
bishops and stake presidents have
become responsible in the twentieth
century for a variety of tasks which
continually increase in both num-
ber and complexity. The duties of
the stake president, for example,
have become more complex than
many church members realize. He
needs almost to be a specialist in
the field of administration since he
has become personally responsible
for the co-ordination of many sep-
arate groups. Included in his
administration assignments are such
things as the following: planning
and conducting stake conferences,
supervision of the welfare program
(including farms, canneries, and
other projects), servicemen's com-
mittee, stake board of education,
ward conferences, priesthood activ-
ity (both Aaronic and Melchizedek),
supervision of home teaching pro-
gram, correlation of all auxiliaries,
service on various regional commit-
tees and sub-committees (welfare,
education, temple, etc.). It is not
surprising that many stake presi-
dents report that much of their
working time is spent on church
assignments. Ward bishops, too,
have many and varied administra-
tive responsibilities in addition to
their time-consuming function as
"fathers" of the wards and counse-
lors to the members. The General
Handbook of Instructions used by
ward and stake authorities, lists over
thirty specific responsibilities.
The economic, social, and politi-
cal pressures of the era in which we
live have their effect. Only by
striving to understand these forces
JANUARY 1964
37
can members of the Church hope to
meet the challenges they present.
It should be also noted that the
field of secular education presents
certain important problems and chal-
lenges to the Church as its members
take their places in the highly tech-
nical and scientific world of the
latter twentieth century. Tradition-
ally the Church has placed great
emphasis upon the importance of
education. The youth of today are
especially urged to attend colleges,
universities, and professional schools
that will best suit them in their indi-
vidual interests and ambitions.
In attempting to meet the chal-
lenges of higher education, the
Church has taken at least two im-
portant steps: (1) It has created a
fine university which may well set
the intellectual standard for the
Church in its dedication to the dis-
covery of truth from all sources.
Brigham Young University profes-
sors are retained not only for their
devotion to the Church but also for
their scholastic attainments in di-
verse fields of study; (2) for stu-
dents not attending church colleges,
the Church has been liberal in pro-
viding for institutes of religion at
scores of campuses in the United
States and Canada. Institute in-
structors are retained, not only for
their devotion to the Church, but
also because they are considered
academically qualified to approach
religion at the college level.
What of Tomorrow?
The history of the Church has
been dramatic. The student of
church history, however, might well
remember that history becomes most
meaningful as it helps him under-
stand the present and prepare for
the future. Challenges have been
met with energy and enthusiasm.
The gospel of the Savior, as restored
through the Prophet Joseph Smith,
is beginning to "fill the earth."
The Church, it would seem, is
only on the verge of its true great-
ness. The future will be dramatic
and exciting. More important, how-
ever, is the fact that just as the past
has had its effect upon the present,
the activities of today will affect the
future. The ideals, the activities,
and the decisions of today's youth
will form the basis for the ideals,
activities, and decisions of to-
morrow's leaders.
He-Who-Will-Be-Chief
( Continued from page 23 )
slavering, while Angus' hand closed
around the handle of his sheath
knife and yanked it free. Without
warning, the wolverine leaped, a
snarling, slashing bundle of fury.
With a wild cry, Angus thrust up
his left arm, catching the brute
under its jaw, while his right hand
plunged the knife blade into its
shoulder. The point scraped bone
and glanced aside. Again, Carcajou
lunged, this time for the boy's knife
hand. Angus flung himself back
against the cave wall, slipped on the
icy floor, grasped wildly for support
and went down, the fiercesome beast
astride him.
In sheer desperation, Angus
twisted sidewise and brought his
knife forward with a short, swift
uppercut that went home.
Where sharp teeth had ripped his
clothing, Angus felt the stinging bite
of air. Rolling over, he scrambled
erect, stabbing again and again with
his knife, blindly. Half mad with
pain and terror, feeling waves of
agony surging up his leg, Angus fell
'THE
SPOKEN
WORD -
HABIT: SERVANT OR MASTER?
RICHARD L. EVANS
"Habit," said Nathaniel Emmons, "is either the best of servants or the
worst of masters."1 In considering this subject we have emphasized some-
what the negative side— habit as the "worst of masters"— and have suggested
that we must not let habits prompt us to do that which is contrary to our
better sense or our better selves. But today we should like to turn a
moment to the more positive side: habit as "the best of servants"— for
forming good habits is as important as breaking bad ones. "Young per-
sons are creatures of impulse," said George B. Cheever. "Old persons are
creatures of habit. Almost everything is impulse with a little child, and
nothing can be called habit; almost everything is habit in . . . old age,
and there is very little that can be called impulse. As character to be
used for eternity must be formed in time and in good time, so good habits
to be used for happiness in this life must be formed early."2 "We are all
the time following the influences which will presently be our rulers," said
Herman L. Wayland. "We are making our own destiny. We are choosing
our habits ... In time these acquire a power over us."3 This is true
and sobering, but not necessarily negative. We can break bad habits and
make good habits— if we want to. And right habits can be as useful as
wrong habits can be destructive. Indeed, in one sense, habit is another
word for routine, or at least habit and routine run together in many respects.
And like all the other forces in life, habit may be directed to negative or
positive purposes. Constructively, we may form the habit of studying,
the habit of working, the habit of reading; the habit of paying debts, of
meeting obligations; we may form habits of kindness and courtesy; the
habit of wholesome thinking; even the habit of happiness. Some habits
lead to frustration, inefficiency, ill health, and heartache. Some lead to
accomplishment, effectiveness, good character, and quiet conscience. These
words of George D. Boardman are recalled, as quoted by President David
O. McKay: "Sow an act, and you reap a habit; sow a habit, and you reap a
character; sow a character, and you reap a destiny."4
iNathaniel Emmons (1745-1840), American theologist.
2George B. Cheever (1807-90), American clergyman.
sHerman L. Wayland (1830-98), American clergyman.
4George D. Boardman (1828-1903), American clergyman.
"The Spoken Word," from Temple Square, presented over KSL and the Columbia
Broadcasting System, November 17, 1963. Copyright 1963.
38
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
back against the wall of the cave
and fainted.
It was still twilight when Angus
pushed up out of the cavern, carry-
ing the ears of Carcajou in his hand.
Aching all over now, and spent, he
rested against a windfall log. Whim-
pering, he examined his injured leg
and found the wound in his thigh
not as bad as it felt. It would lame
him, and he would carry its scar all
his life. He felt a glow of pride start
up inside him, as he tied his ker-
chief around the gash and stood up.
He felt weak from loss of blood, but
he would make out, that he knew.
Carefully, he broke a narrow pas-
sage through the snowslide to where
his snowshoes, pack, and rifle lay
scattered. Gently he poked the furry
ears deep down inside the pack, then
put on his snowshoes, bending with
great difficulty, and gathered up the
rifle. He edged cautiously around
the slide, limping, and presently en-
tered the clearing where his father's
cache stood. There would be fire-
wood and warmth in the cabin, and
in the morning he could start back.
Overhead, as night came on, the
stars brightened. Angus held his
head high now, despite the throb-
bing ache in his leg. Now, he knew
that he had indeed earned a new
name-He-Who-Will-Be-Chief. The
thought came clear as running water,
that only a youth whom the gods
had selected could earn that name,
as Old Man would probably tell
him. He knew, now, how Old Man
had gotten the long scar across his
shoulders. . . .
Meanwhile, on the morrow he
would skin the wolverine, hanging
its carcass high in a spruce. He
would search out and reset all the
rest of his father's traps with confi-
dence. There would be no more
Indian devils for the spirit of
Carcajou killed by He-Who-Will-Be-
Chief would warn others away. The
Little-People-of-the-Bush would be
grateful; they would repay him by
letting themselves be caught in his
traps. Best of all, Sarah could go
away to teacher's boarding school,
and while they would all miss her,
he knew that it would be for the best.
Never again need he fear the Evil
Ones of the bush, for He-Who-Will-
Be-Chief had proved himself a man.
When it came his time to be called
Old Man and he was, indeed, Chief -
of-the- Village, he would guide the
people wisely.
Genealogy
(Continued from page 29)
Information Other Than Exact Date
of Death or Burial Known
6. The explanations "between,"
« » t< l 99 « J « «1 r 99
wp, wd, admon, before,
"after," etc. should be recorded, in
parentheses, in front of the date to
which they refer.
Example: (wd) 5 April 1864
(admon) 6 Sep 1824
Section 3
Page 59
Dates of Death or Burial of Children
7. If the date of burial of a child
is recorded instead of a date of
death, the additional explanation
"bur." should be recorded above
the date of burial.
bur.
Example: 30 May 1856
Section 3
Page 63
8. If both the date of death and the
date of burial are known for a child,
then only the date of death should
be recorded.
Apart from these changes, the
standards in section three of the in-
struction manual should be followed.
Section 3
Page 64
ANY NECESSARY
EXPLANATIONS
There is no designated space on
the old-style family group sheet for
the recording of "Any Necessary
Explanations."
If there is need to record addition-
al and related items of genealogical
importance, such information can
either be recorded on the bottom
of the family group sheet or on a
note of explanation attached to the
family group record.
Apart from these changes, the
standards in section five of the in-
struction manual should be followed.
Section 5
Page 6
RECORDING OF PLACES
Husband and Wife
1. In recording a place with a four-
stage identification, the four entries
should be written on the same line.
Example: Millside, Wigan, Lanes,
Eng.
St. John's Bristol, Gloucs, Eng.
Section 4
Page 5
Children
2. In recording a four-stage identifi-
cation for the place of birth or
christening of a child, the name of
the town (or parish), county, state,
or country should be recorded in the
normal way. The name of the
smaller area should be recorded
above the name of the town or par-
ish of which it is a part.
Example: St. John's,
Bristol, Gloucs, Eng.
Apart from these changes, the
standards in section four of the in-
struction manual should be followed.
LISTING SOURCES SEARCHED
If there is insufficient space on the
front of the old-style horizontal fam-
ily group record to allow the item-
ization of all the sources searched,
the listings should be continued on
the reverse side of the sheet.
Section 5
Page 1
Initials of Hired Researcher
If the actual research was carried
out in behalf of the patron by a
paid, hired researcher, the initials
of the hired researcher should be
placed in parentheses above the
name of the patron.
(CBW)
Example: John D. Williams
643 So. 1st Street
Salt Lake City, Utah
A Scholar, A Gentle Man
(Continued from page 20)
He wrote ward teaching lessons
for Ensign Stake. He wrote text-
books on the Old and New Testa-
ments for the Seventy. But he wrote
best about the heart of his people
and the things which made hearts
beat faster with pride and love for
this place of refuge in the moun-
tains. He didn't say it as tersely as
did Isaiah, but the theme was
the same:
"And it shall come to pass that the
mountain of the Lord's house shall
be established in the top of the
mountains . . . and all nations shall
flow unto it . . .
JANUARY 1964
39
"And we shall learn of his ways."
(See Isa. 2:2-3.)
It would not be just to pass by
his relationship to his family. One
and all, his brothers and sisters
speak of his concern for them, which
he constantly exhibited. And, one
and all, his nieces and nephews
would shout with joy whenever he
appeared among them. He was a
prime entertainer. Has anyone ever
heard him imitate various well-
known characters who lived in our
childhood, or in recent times for that
matter. He was a great mimic. He
caught the chief characteristics of
those he saw and delineated these
strong points with happy imitation.
We have laughed ourselves breath-
less at his theatrical antics. We have
been seated in subdued attention, our
throats aching while he told of the
great monuments, shrines, literature,
and art of Europe. He could take a
painting and make the viewer feel the
emotions of those who were painted
as well as those of the painter. The
canvas would spring to life, and
many things we thought of hardly at
all became beautiful because he
showed us their beauty. "Beautiful"
had special meaning for him.
There are those of us today who
thank him for inspiring us to read
better books than we could digest
and raising us to ever higher levels.
Yet, he never spoke above us. He
assumed we were his age and took
us into his confidence as though,
actually, we were. In a family
gathering with the conversation hit-
ting high on cultural things, if a
six-year-old interrupted with a ques-
tion or a comment, it was treated by
Uncle Lee as though the child were
an adult. This is a common trait
of all of our aunts and uncles, but
Uncle Lee had it better developed,
perhaps, because he was better in-
formed. Every child felt important
to the family— and equally important
to Uncle Lee. The writer of this
article when at age 10, shortly after
the marriage of Uncle Lee to
Valeria Brinton, decided to go call-
ing on them for supper. So about
4:00 pm he walked to the Young
house. He was admitted without a
question, a case of books called his
attention, and when Uncle Lee
came home, supper was had with
the conversation carefully geared
to his level. Uncle Lee discussed
Horatio Alger as seriously as Dick-
ens, Poe, or Goethe. There was no
feeling of being not wanted, but
rather one of "You grace our home
by your presence." The author has
never forgotten the occasion.
What did President Young think
in his 90th year? He came to his
office two or three times a week,
opened his mail, revived old memo-
ries with old friends at the Lion
House, told stories of his association
with famous men, saw the picture
of President J. Golden Kimball on
the wall and remembered an anec-
dote of this famous seventy and
humorist. These were the outward
appearing things.
But inwardly?
How does one measure the good
done in fifty-four years as a mem-
ber of the First Council of the
THE
SPOKEN
WORD a
THE PASSING OF THE
PRESIDENT
RICHARD L. EVANS
With a sorrowing America, we join this day in mourning the passing of
the President. John Fitzgerald Kennedy is mourned by unnumbered multi-
tudes, not only here, but wherever there are knowing human hearts. In
a short lifetime he realized an almost incredible accomplishment, and will
be remembered unpredictably far into the future.
But our thoughts today are more for those who mourn him in the close
relationship of life—his loved ones. The official loss does not make less
their personal loss. May the peace and comfort and understanding of the
Father of us all be with them in these anguished hours, and in all yet
future difficult days— with faith in eternal continuance— faith in his eternal
plan and purpose. "There is a future, O thank God!"1— a future where
our loved ones wait.
And now our fellow Americans, may we turn our thoughts a moment
to some words from the past that have much meaning for the present:
"It is a time . . . for searching of the conscience, for humility of spirit,
for the heartfelt prayer of the whole people for light, for guidance, for
strength, for sanity, for that passion for righteousness which consumes all
pride, scorn, arrogance, and trust in the things that perish. . . . Therefore, let
the Nation search itself. . . . And thus let us plead and pray: Almighty God,
who in former time leddest our fathers forth . . . give Thy grace ... to us
their children, that we may always ... do Thy will. Bless our land with
honorable industry, sound learning, and pure manners. Defend our
liberties; preserve our unity. Save us from violence, discord, and confu-
sion . . . and from every evil way."2
From a century past we add to this these lines from Abraham Lin-
coln: "It behooves us then, to humble ourselves . . . and to pray for
clemency and forgiveness . . . All this being done in sincerity and trutn . . .
that the united cry of the nation will be heard on high. . . "3
"Our fathers' God to thee,
Author of liberty,
To thee we sing.
Long may our land be bright
With freedom's holy light.
Protect us by thy might,
Great God, our King!4
^enry de Lafayette Webster, Lorena.
2Editorial, The Outlook, November 29, 1902.
3Excerpt from Proclamation, March 30, 1863.
*Samuel F. Smith, My Country, 'Tis of Thee.
"The Spoken Word," from Temple Square, presented over KSL and the Columbia
Broadcasting System, November 24, 1963. Copyright 1963.
40
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
■Jfcrti
#^
WHAT WILL
.'
ml
■pp™^^ :::
$100,000.00
DO FOR BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY?
It will furnish a small portion of the Educational future
for your son or daughter, should they choose to attend
the BYU . . . Earmarked for the school's Destiny Fund,
the interest from which will be spent for buildings,
salaries, and new facilities. This money represents the
profit from $10,000,000.00 of grocery sales by
Grand American, El Rancho and Mayfair Markets in
your area.
Mr. J. Earl Garrett, President of
Mayfair, Grand American and El
Rancho Markets presents final
checks in $100,000.00 gift to
BYU.
WE GIVE 4% Green Stamps
HI
JANUARY 1964
41
Seventy, twenty or so of them as its
senior president? What memory
can conjure up the quarterly con-
ferences he attended, the spread
of time covering from a slow trip in
a white top wagon or a buggy, to
recently a trip to New York by fast
airplane? He may have mused over
the fact that only two of his living
brethren have served longer, Presi-
dent David O. McKay and President
Joseph Fielding Smith. He had
known each President of the Church
since Brigham Young and knew him
by association with those who did.
He had known every apostle ap-
pointed since 1870, and some who
lived before. He had known every
senior president of the Seventy, for
he remembered well his Grandfather
Joseph Young, who in 1835 became
the first senior president.
He had the satisfaction of having
been given honors from men in
abundance and to have been a
member of educational, religious,
and scientific societies, and had a
hand in the committee to establish
the Jews in their homeland. He
looked with satisfaction over his
work in the Utah Historical Society
and its recognition of his contribu-
tions with a life membership.
He was interested, not so much in
the facts of the gospel— the day by
day occurrences— as he was in the lift
of the gospel to the human spirit.
Theology to him was not a science, it
was an art, with all of the spiritual
feeding which comes to an artist.
Each of us who has known him
may try to place a value on what he
has meant to us-. It can't be done,
for just as we think we have bal-
anced the sheet some new memory
forces us to see further his influence
on us. His Alma Mater, the Univer-
sity of Utah, tried to put into words
and action that influence when it
bestowed on him the degree of Doc-
tor of Humanities in 1960. He
accepted the accolade with humility
and grateful dignity.
Dr. Young! His father had been
Dr. Young. He kept the title to
his breast against the day when
he would meet his father once more,
gentle smile meeting gentle smile.
They were much alike, these too,
each in his way, pioneering the good
things, eschewing the evil, trying
not to harm any man, loving the
gospel, practising its precepts, and
presenting to the world the gentle
smile of the born gentle man.
Filling the Void
( Continued from page 27 )
things? How could I so expand their
emotional perspective that they
would act upon those righteous feel-
ings instead of the narrow and short
feelings which lead them into the
paths of destruction? There is a
big gap, a huge void. If parents and
teachers do not fill the void, who
will? The group will— the group
they go along with.
What are the central values of
most youth groups? Social, mate-
rial, and physical values— the clothing
I wear, my looks, the way I feel,
behave, talk, think, look, the friends
I have, my status symbols. These
are the things which give me be-
longing and acceptance in this
group. But of whom is the group
made up? It is composed of people
just like me who have short-range
emotional perspective, who are con-
cerned almost entirely with short-
range things— material, social, and
physical; and unless I comply and
conform, I fear rejection and ostra-
cism. I need to belong, to be ac-
cepted. Therefore, I have to comply.
I am almost forced to unless the gap
is filled by someone else. Who is to
fill that gap? It has to be parents,
the leaders, and the teachers. But
how, when there is such an enormous
communication barrier?
This brings us into a discussion of
the third void.
To all of us who are concerned
with this problem of youth— and all
of us, I am sure, are as teachers,
leaders, and parents— there is this
third gap which must be bridged
before one can really bridge the
first motivation-perspective gap and
the second communication gap—
another void which must be filled.
And this is the void in our own lives
between our own beliefs and our
own actual behavior— particularly our
emotional, attitudinal behavior. That
is the crucial void. What do I mean?
If parents, leaders, and teachers
will obey the primary laws of love,
they encourage obedience to the
primary laws of life. If, on the other
hand, parents, teachers, and leaders
disobey the primary laws of love,
they encourage disobedience to the
primary laws of life. Let me give
some definitions so that this will
take on some meaning. What do
we mean by the primary laws of
love? These evolve around essen-
tially this idea: I affirm you your
right to be. I acknowledge with
great reverence and respect your
existence, that you are a person of
worth, that you have a Divine
Father and Mother, that you in your
very humanity are worth loving, and
above all, in your very divinity,
worth loving. This is apart from
your performance or your behavior.
I may not like your behavior. I may
be upset with it, but I affirm you, I
respect you. I honor you as a per-
son, I listen to you. I try to
understand.
An illustration: My friend, a stake
president, had a son who did not
desire to go on a mission. The stake
president said, "Son, you know that
I want you to go on a mission, but I
also want you to know that the de-
cision is yours. If you should decide
to go, your mother and I will be
very delighted. If you should de-
cide not to go on a mission, we will
also honor and respect you in that
decision." The son decided that the
sacrifice was too great; he did not
have the desire to go. The parents
accepted the decision and fully sup-
ported him in it as they had
promised. A year later the boy,
responding to love and new-found
spiritual values, decided yes, he did
want a mission. He made an internal
commitment, not to his parents, but
to himself and his God.
Again, if I as a parent can live the
primary laws of love, by that affirma-
tion I encourage obedience to the
primary laws of life. What are these
laws of life? Stay faithful in the
Church and all the teachings of the
Church— the laws of repentance and
obedience, the laws regarding edu-
cation—all of the laws which have
to do with the growth and develop-
ment of a personality towards the
eventual position of exaltation in the
celestial kingdom— a celestialized
personality.
What is it, then, that can fill this
most important void— that is, the
void in our own lives as parents, as
teachers, and as leaders— the gap be-
tween what I say with my mouth
and intellectualize with my mind
and how I behave, and how I feel
down here in my heart? I think that
void must be filled because I feel
the pressure, and you feel the pres-
sure to meet the expectations of so-
42
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
ciety. We ourselves are immersed
in all of these value systems— social,
material, physical. We are anxious
to have successful children who
obey and conform. And when we see
nonconformity, we tend to take it
personally. We become subjectively
involved and value our own accept-
ance more than the essential, in-
trinsic worth of our children. And
so we tend to disobey the primary
laws of love— we try to manipulate
and force and push and cajole and
use logic or any other means nec-
essary to get people to do the
right thing.
In my opinion the answer in filling
this void between my feeling about
my children, my students, etc., and
my verbal behavior, my intellectual
belief is in the depth of my conver-
sion to the Lord Jesus Christ, where
I begin to feel in my heart that he
loves me with an infinite and a di-
vine love and that therefore I can
love with great reserves my children,
with great affirmation. Then I can
discipline, yes. Then I can give ad-
vice, yes. Teach, yes. But this is
based upon a relationship of un-
conditional love and acceptance of
the person. I am building the rela-
tionship as I have the relationship
with the Savior. But often in our
attempt to build a relationship with
the Savior, we project our own hu-
man experiences which are unfor-
giving, judging, and rejecting, so
that we do not see the Savior literally
as a friend, as an intimate associate
whom we can get to know and feel
deeply in our hearts, and therefore
we "often will not allow that void to
be filled— the void between us and
the Savior.
And now to youth, I say this: Try
to understand this problem— this gap
in your lives— that you do tend to act
upon short-range emotional perspec-
tive. Seek out the wisdom of your
elders. Seek out a relationship with
them— the kind of relationship I have
been speaking about. But try to
understand why that relationship is
difficult to achieve. In other words,
I ask you to try to understand your
parents, try to affirm them in their
right to make mistakes and to be
imperfect and to grow through the
mistake-making process. All of us
are mistake-makers. If you will do
that, then you can lean on the wis-
dom of the gospel of Jesus Christ
and make decisions which have long-
range perspective in them.
Have you
given this
any thought?
Ten years can find you far
ahead if you plan wisely now
and open a fast growing
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FINANCIAL!. Y IN 1974?
/COMPARE \ EARNINGS IN 10 YEARS
/ AMOUNT
at 3V2%
at 4%
4V2%
/ $ 500
$ 207.39
$ 242.97
$ 280.25
/ 1,000
414.78
485.94
560.50
/ 3,000
1,244.33
1,457.84
1,681.53
/ 5,000
2,073.89
2,429.74
2,802.55
/ 10,000
4,147.78
4,859.48
5,605.00
Save by mail, DFS pays the postage both ways.
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FEDERAL SAVINGS & LOAN ASSN.
44 SOUTH MAIN IN SALT LAKE CITY
95 NORTH UNIVERSITY IN PROVO
JANUARY 1964
43
Student Wards, Branches
From the beginning of the restoration, the leaders of
the Church have been concerned with the education
of its youth. Since the gospel embraces all truth,
seeking for truth is the main preoccupation of any
true Latter-day Saint. However, the truth which
controls the action of a chemical experiment should
have its proportionate importance and place in the
larger expansion of truth which, properly applied,
gives us eternal exaltation. That our growing youth
should constantly know and apply these facets in
proper proportion is the work of the Church through
its educational facilities. .
It can be readily seen that a theoretical application
of a truth is inferior to a practical experience in which
the truth becomes an integral part of one's nature.
Therefore we now organize where there are sufficient
Latter-day Saint students— stakes, wards, or branches.
The rules and standards by which student stakes,
wards, and branches are to be organized and operated
are found in a revised letter of instruction from the
First Presidency dated November 4, 1963, and ad-
dressed "to all stake and mission presidents, bishops
and branch presidents." Its careful reading will give
most of the answers about how to proceed in most
situations which may arise; for example:
Is a student ward or branch at any time an inde-
pendent unit?
By whom are the bishops and branch presidents
appointed?
May a student serve in a bishopric or on a high
council; and if so, under what conditions?
What is the objective in using student leaders, and
when should they be used?
What are procedures and protocol in recruiting
officers and leaders for student wards, branches, and
auxiliaries from nearby stakes, wards, or branches?
Questions such as these are fully treated on page one.
Here one learns that the Church is indeed flexible
in meeting situations which are different.
Other questions arise as the organizations are
perfected.
The use of the pink duplicate membership is ex-
plained. Under this program the responsible receiver
of tithing, fast offering, ward maintenance, etc., is
W,
MELCHIZEDEK
PRIESTHOOD
*W
Ward members surround Bishop Richard J, Marshall
of the University Ninth Ward, University of Utah.
44
indicated. The place of the home ward in the pro-
gram is fully defined as well as the place of the
student ward. In five statements it is made clear
which of the variety of students are eligible to be-
come members of student wards; for example:
What about students living with their parents in
the college town which contains a regularly organized
ward? This question requires careful consideration
of all factors involved.
Page two goes into and clears these questions.
The letter goes on to explain the conditions under
which mission calls, priesthood advancements, and
temple recommends are to be processed.
It covers, in its ten pages of detail, answers to such
questions as physical facilities, finances, their source
and use; the holding of services and other meetings
in student wards and branches; participation in stake
activities; church welfare. The summer months,
when many students return home or find work,
present problems of administration. Procedures are
outlined for this period.
Each auxiliary organization is given a comprehen-
sive definitive paragraph which will serve as a guide
to its leaders.
With the instructions and explanations embodied in
this letter, all leaders of stakes, missions, wards, and
branches should have no trouble in finding the proper
organization to fit any situation which may currently
exist "concerning students away from home."
If the program is followed carefully, with en-
thusiasm, every student will have active practice in
the operation of church organizations.
We recommend that stake, ward, and mission
leaders read carefully the letter referred to and follow
its outlined procedures.
Blessing of Children
"Blessing of Children: This should be done in fast
meeting in the ward where parents are members
of record.
"If it is done in any other ward, the clerk of such
ward should make a permanent record on a member-
ship record card and send the card to the Presiding
Bishoprics Office with the family's new address.
"Under exceptional circumstances, and only upon
authorization of the bishop, children may be blessed
at home by worthy fathers holding the Melchizedek
Priesthood, in which event special care must be taken
to see that the proper records are made.
"When children of nonmembers are blessed, an
entry, 'parents not members' should be made on the
membership record card. The parents should be in-
formed that the names of these children who are
named and blessed in the Church will be entered
on the records of the Church until the individual is
baptized a member or reaches the age of twenty-one.
"Young children whose parents are converted and
baptized should be blessed in the usual manner, and a
membership record card should be made out for them.
"If a child is born to parents, both of whom are
members of the Church, and the child is not blessed
within one year following the birth, the birth should
be recorded in Form E in the Births and Blessings,
and membership record cards made out. In the
'Blessing' column enter the words 'Not Blessed.' If
only one parent is a member, and the child is not
blessed, the birth should not be recorded unless per-
mission is given by the nonmember parent.
"Children up to and including the age of seven
whose parents are converted and baptized may be
blessed or not at the option of the parents, but in
either event an entry is to be made in Form E and
membership record cards made out. In the 'Blessing'
column enter the words 'Parents new converts—
not blessed.'
"Worthy Fathers who hold the Melchizedek Priest-
hood shoidd be encouraged to bless their own
children.
"Only those holding the Melchizedek Priesthood
should be invited to participate in the ordinance of
blessing and naming of children; but where a father,
whether a member of the Church or not, requests
permission to hold his child while the officiating
elder gives the blessing, he may be permitted to do
so, but he should not be encouraged to make
the request."
—General Haiidbook of Instructions
pp. 62-63
JANUARY 1964
45
THE PRESIDING BISHOPRICS PAGE
ff
IF I WERE YOU
ADVICE TO YOUNG MEN
ff
BY WALLACE F. BENNETT
My father John F. Bennett rose from
poverty to become a successful busi-
nessman who served the LDS Church
as well as many individuals who had business problems. Having learned
double-entry bookkeeping early in life, he always began each new problem by
drawing up a balance sheet of assets and liabilities. He taught me the importance
of such records by giving me a tiny allowance and requiring me to keep a balanced
account of it. efeeb This is good discipline for every phase of life. If I were you,
I would learn to keep my life "in balance" so that I could measure the growth
of my "net worth" — spiritual as well as temporal. <eh<sh You are already starting
to manage your own "business of life" which is really several separate enter-
prises, including your health, your character, your personal philosophy, and your
relationships with family and friends. As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ
and a bearer of his priesthood, you already possess life's greatest asset, the gospel.
If you build on this asset wisely, you can build your spiritual net worth to the level
of exaltation in God's presence, dsela Have you ever thought of listing those prin-
ciples of the gospel which are real assets in each of life's enterprises? Let me help
you make a start. d^th In the business of bodily health, here are three which
the gospel supplies: sacred respect for our body because it is like God's; a deter-
mination to keep it pure, because it is a part of the miracle of creation; and the
Word of Wisdom to keep it strong, d&sk In the business of character building,
we find in the scriptures not only the teaching and example of Christ him-
self, but also the record of the experience of many men, records of success
and failure, dsefe As we work to develop our life's philosophy or sense of truth,
we find in the gospel not merely the thoughts of men, but the greater wisdom
of prophets inspired by God. Wisdom is one of life's greatest and most sought
for assets. It is not easy to acquire. If you truly seek truth, you will want the
gift of the Holy Ghost to find it and God's help to enable you to live by it. These
gifts come only to those who understand and live the gospel. %k<§h As we build
our pattern of human relationships, the gospel is irreplaceable if we are to create
families that are an eternal part of God's kingdom. The church organization is also
vital because it provides both inspiration and opportunity for service to others.
efedbAn essential part of bookkeeping is the part to "rule up" the records of the
past and start a new page. The gospel gives us this same privilege in the principle of
repentance. If we keep the gospel at the head of our growing spiritual assets and con-
stantly reduce our liabilities by repentance, we can have every hope that the final
"net worth" on our spiritual bal-
ance sheet will justify the Great
Auditor in saying, "Well done,
thou good and faithful servant,
enter into the joys of thy Lord."
Senator Wallace Foster Bennett has been
treasurer of the Deseret Sunday School
Union since T935. He was elected to the
United States Senate in November 1950
and re-elected in 1956 and 1962. His com-
mittee assignments include member of
Senate finance committee. Senate banking
and currency committee, joint committee on
atomic energy, joint committee on defense
production, and special committee on aging.
Senator Bennett was president of Bennett's
(paint and glass manufacturing and dis-
tributing company) and Bennett Motor
Company until 1950, and is now chairman
of the board of both organizations. He is
the author of two books, Faith and Freedom
and Why I Am a Mormon.
^^fAfcH/
r,
48
Are things ever dull in your life? Are you on a
treadmill doing the same things day after day with
no feeling of zest? Write a prescription for yourself,
recommend a new challenge, something you have
never done before, something that you have wanted
to do for a long, long time. You say, "But I haven't
the time for one more thing in my crowded life,"
then take stock. Sit down and draw a line right
down the middle of a large piece of paper. On one
side of the line list everything you have been doing
day in and day out. On the other side of the page
enumerate all the things that you would love to do
but in the past have buried down deep in your heart
because of lack of time, lack of money, or lack of
courage. These are the things that will bring a rain-
bow back into your life, a promise of life fully lived.
Now begin by evaluating what really is needed and
has intrinsic value to you, your growth, and your
enjoyment. Discard those mundane things that keep
you on that treadmill.
You are an important person, an individual who
has innumerable, undiscovered talents and possibili-
ties. Someone has said that every person you meet
is superior in some way to you, but certainly, in turn
you are superior in some particular way to everyone
with whom you come in contact. You have some
very special talents— undiscovered. Start mining, dig
below the surface and come face to face with your
real self. Don't just turn over a page, turn over a
whole chapter and be a more vibrant individual.
It is so easy to clutter our lives with unessentials.
We find ourselves spending all our days with things
that are unimportant to us. Many of the people
you enjoy the most you never see because they are
buried under day by day trivia.
Think up a new project. It can make your whole
life come into focus. One morning, awhile back, I can
remember thinking that I, as a mother, could take
some of the load off a very busy son. As he hurried
away to school, I sat down at the breakfast table and
thought, "He's so very busy I can lift some of his
load." As I was toying with this thought, I uncon-
sciously picked up a piece of note paper and started
to read a column of about twenty items. It was his
list of reminders for the day; and as my eye went
down the rows from one task to another, my deter-
mination to help him grew. That is, it grew until
I read the last words on the list, "Think up new
project." I sat there laughing to myself: He's walking
TODAYS FAMILY
FLORENCE B. PINNOCK, EDITOR
a foot above the ground and making wonderful
progress. He's loving every second of every busy
minute; he's growing and learning with each new
challenge. No dullness— just a sunburst of colors in his
life! "Think up new project." That is the secret.
All these thoughts and the new year coincide nicely
together. Right now is the time to begin new inter-
ests, to start worthwhile projects. Has "home night"
in your family been just a topic of conversation?
Perhaps right now is the time to bring it to life. Par-
ents with young children are missing a delightful
opportunity for teaching and binding their families
together if they do not hold family night. This is a
time when you catch up on conversation one with
another, when you clear the air of any wrong feel-
ings, when you make exciting family plans, when you
teach what is right and discourage wrong actions, a
time to have fun together without the outside world
and its influences interfering. No phone calls, no
TV, no radio, perhaps some good music but just each
other at home together! This is a miracle that can
take place in your very own family if you want it
to enough. If you care enough to do a little shifting
of schedules, a little discarding or combining of tasks
and a great deal of loving, you, too, can have a "fam-
ily home evening."
The time should either begin or end with a little
treat. Maybe even, time could be spent together to
make this treat; for instance, have you ever pulled
candy together? Have you had the exciting experi-
ence of making doughnuts from flour bin to glazing
pan? Have you ever sat in a circle telling stories
around an ice cream freezer, each taking a turn at
the crank. Here are some fun family night treat
suggestions.
Hot chocolate ( with a marshmallow topping it ) , dates
stuffed with nuts and apples.
Milk, Postum and cookies.
Chocolate waffles topped with peppermint ice cream.
Fruit cocktail and cheese straws.
Homemade ice cream and cookies.
Warm homemade doughnuts and milk.
Angel food cake with a whipped topping.
Crunchies and hot cider.
Buttered popcorn sprinkled with grated cheese and
served with root beer.
Hot gingerbread with vanilla ice cream ( make ginger-
bread from package).
JANUARY 1964
49
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Chocolate Waffles
section waffles)
Makes 3 four Molasses Chews
2 cups sifted flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons sugar
2 eggs
1% cups chocolate milk (bought)
Vs cup melted shortening
% cup pecans
Beat the egg yolks, add the sugar,
and beat well. Sift the dry in-
gredients together and combine with
the egg yolks and sugar alternately
with the chocolate milk. Fold in
the melted shortening and nuts. Beat
the egg whites until stiff but not
dry. Fold into batter. Bake in
preheated waffle iron until steaming,
stops and waffle is golden brown.
Serve hot topped with peppermint
ice cream.
No-Cook Vanilla Ice Cream
6 eggs
1 pint whipping cream, whipped
1 large can evaporated milk
2V2 cups sugar
V2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla
Whole milk
Beat the egg whites until stiff. Add
the sugar and continue beating until
stiff. Beat egg yolks, add the salt,
evaporated milk, and vanilla. Care-
fully fold the whipped cream into
the egg whites, fold all into the egg
yolk mixture and pour in the
freezer. Add enough whole milk to
fill the four-quart freezer to within
F/2 inches of top. Freeze in hand
or electric ice cream freezer.
Honey Cheios
white sugar
1 cup wliite sugar
2 cups honey
1 cup half and half milk and cream
Combine ingredients and cook
slowly until it reaches the hard ball
stage when tested in cold water.
Pour onto a buttered slab, when
just cool enough to handle, butter
hands and pull until a golden color
and will hold its shape in a long
rope. Cut into 1 inch pieces and
wrap each piece in a small square
of waxed paper.
1 cup sugar
IV2 cups light molasses
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 tablespoon butter
Vs teaspoon soda
Dash of salt
Combine the sugar, molasses, and
vinegar and boil to a hard ball
stage. Add the other ingredients
and remove from heat and stir until
soda is blended. Pour on greased
marble slab. When just cool enough
to handle, pull until white and stiff
and stretch out in a long rope and
cut into 1 inch pieces. Wrap each
piece of candy in waxed paper.
Orange milk shake (for each indi-
vidual serving)
% cup milk
4 teaspoons Tang
1 scoop vanilla ice cream
Put ingredients into blender. Fluff
until light and creamy. Pour into
tall glass.
Crunchies
Vz box Cheerio Oats
1 medium box Post Toasties
1 medium box Rice Krispies
2 cups shredded coconut
2 cups peanuts
Mix these ingredients together.
Syrup
2V2 cups dark Karo
Vi cup molasses
2V2 cups sugar
1 cup evaporated milk
Cook to soft ball stage; pour over
mixture. Stir well and let stand 10
minutes then shape into small balls.
Whipped Topping (for angel food
cake)
1 envelope Dream Whip Dessert
Topping mix
V2 cup cold milk
V2 teaspoon vanilla
Vi cup crushed peppermint candy
or a few drops of peppermint
extract.
Prepare dessert topping with milk
50
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
and vanilla as directed on envelope.
Then fold in candy. Makes about
2 cups.
This next recipe comes from New
Zealand. An elaborate family din-
ner was given for a son who had
just returned from a successful
mission, and these delicious dough-
nuts were served. The American
visitor enjoyed them so much that
she asked for the recipe, and I am
passing it to you. It is a very large
recipe, but the doughnuts are so
delicious that you will enjoy making
it sometime when the family is all
at home.
Raised Doughnuts
5 cups scalded milk
2 cups sugar
1 cup butter or margarine
2 teaspoons salt
4 eggs beaten
2' yeast cakes
1 cup warm water
about 15 cups flour
Add the sugar, butter, and salt to
the hot milk and when cool, add the
beaten eggs. Dissolve the yeast
cakes in the cup of warm water and
add to the mixture. Add enough
flour to make a soft dough. Let it
raise to double in bulk in a covered
container. When light, do not handle
the dough but just roll it out on a
floured board to XA inch thickness.
Cut with doughnut cutter and
cover with a cloth and let rise to V%
inch thickness. Fry in hot deep fat
until cooked through and browned.
Take from fat and glaze immediately.
Vanilla Glaze
xk cup water
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
Blend all together until smooth.
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1 cup confectioner's sugar
Vi cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons butter
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JANUARY 1964
The Church Moves On
(Continued from page 6)
sustained as first counselor to Presi-
dent Orren J. Greenwood of Sandy
East (Utah) Stake, succeeding
Elder Reid L. Harper. Elder Ken-
neth A. Brady sustained as sec-
ond counselor.
NOVEMBER 1963
President David O. McKay
dedicated the new Eagle Gate
at Salt Lake City's South Temple
and State streets. The original Eagle
Gate, erected in 1859, served as
entrance to the property of Presi-
dent Brigham Young. This new
gate is the fourth one to be erected
there, in each case the city's growth
and changing times have necessi-
tated a larger gate.
The First Presidency announced
the appointment of Elders W.
Dean Belnap, Everett Bingham,
Francis C. Bromley, Horace A.
Christiansen, and Lauritz G. Peter-
sen to the Genealogical Society
conference staff.
The First Presidency announced
the appointment of Elder Fauntleroy
Hunsaker of Los Angeles as presi-
dent of the Southern States Mis-
sion, succeeding President J. Byron
Ravsten. President Hunsaker was
released as president of East Los
Angeles Stake about a year ago,
having served for twelve years.
Previously he had served as a
counselor in the Pasadena Stake
presidency, as a member of high
councils in two stakes, and as bishop
and ward Sunday School superin-
tendent. His wife, Mamie Adams
Hunsaker, will accompany him on
this mission. The couple have four
grown children.
Corvallis Stake, 385th now
functioning in the Church, was
organized from parts of Salem
(Oregon) Stake with Elder Hugh F.
Webb sustained as president, and
Elders Ray W. Hardman and Samuel
H. Bailey as counselors. The stake
was organized by Elders Howard
W. Hunter and Thomas S. Monson
of the Council of the Twelve. At
Nauvoo in February 1844, leading
brethren were appointed to go to
Oregon to investigate possibilities
for colonization, but the martyrdom
of the Prophet and the Patriarch
that summer intervened, and the
group did not go.
ARE YOUR CHILDREN RESPECTFUL?
BY PATRECIA VELARDE
Have you taken a good look at your
children's manners lately? Can you
honestly say that they are as re-
spectful and courteous as you would
like for them to be?
The other day while working in
the kitchen, I heard an elderly
neighbor scolding some boys for
breaking down a bush in her yard.
Then to my surprise I heard two of
the boys talking back to her in an
extremely sassy way, and when I
stepped out on my porch to see who
these rude boys were, I was shocked
to discover that one of them was my
own son. To say I was ashamed is
putting it mildly; in fact, there are
no words to express the mortification
I felt at hearing my son, whom I
had always considered fairly well-
behaved, speaking to an elderly
person in such a disrespectful fash-
ion. Of course my first reaction was
anger, and my son was sent to his
room in disgrace. Later, after some
serious thinking on this problem, I
came to this conclusion: Whose fault
is it that my child is disrespectful?
Since I am the one responsible for
his training, there is only one answer
to that question: I am responsible!
My children are given lessons on
respectfulness in Sunday School and
Primary, but will this teaching sink
into and take hold of a child's mind
if it isn't given in the home, too?
These rather unhappy thoughts on
my own children led me to consider
other children, and as a teacher in
Sunday School and Primary for
several years, I have come in con-
tact with quite a few, and all of them
different. In my classes I have had
children who were quiet, and some
who were noisy; some who were
well-behaved, and others who were
disobedient, but the thing which
stood out in my mind was that I
could remember very few who were
really respectful. Stop and think!
When was the last time you heard a
child say "ma'am" or "sir" when
replying to an older person? How
many children do you know who use
the magic words "please" and "thank
you" consistently? When was the
last time you saw a child who was
always careful to speak softly, walk
quietly, and in general, behave in a
respectful manner when in any part
of the Lord's house? Now, on the
other hand, how many children do
you know who make "smart-alecky"
replies when spoken to by their
teachers, older people, and even
their own parents and grandparents?
How many children do you know
who say "I want this" or "give me
that," and then accept it as their
due with never a please or thank
you? How many children do you
know who talk in loud voices, run
through the halls and up and down
the stairs, and even play and wrestle
inside the chapel?
What has happened to the par-
ents of today that we have failed to
teach our children courtesy and
52
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
respect for persons and property?
Have we fallen into the false belief
that there is plenty of time to teach
them these virtues when they be-
come teens? If that is the case, I
am afraid we are in for an unpleas-
ant surprise. A child who has never
been taught to be respectful is not
suddenly to become thoughtful and
courteous upon reaching the age of
twelve or thirteen, and as for our
teaching it to them at that time, a
habit that has been established for
more than ten years can be close to
impossible to break. We seem to
have come to the erroneous conclu-
sion that the things which were
taught to us under the names of
"good manners" and "common cour-
HAIKU
BY MILDRED N. HOYER
One the Designer
Creator of the pattern
Weaver of the cloth.
II
One flesh and spirit
In the world and out of it-
Many many tongues.
Ill
One eternal Source
Of all that is or shall be
To tohich all returns.
tesy" are stilted, old-fashioned, and
completely unnecessary for a child
in this modern age. This is very sad,
for when one finds that rare child
who observes these amenities, he is
like a breath of fresh air in a
stuffy room.
It might not cure the world of its
ills, but it would certainly make it
a much pleasanter place in which to
live if children everywhere could be
given a dose of old-fashioned "good
manners," washed down with some
"common courtesy." As for me, I
plan to see that this medicine is
administered as regularly as vitamin
pills in my home from now on.
Care to join me?
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53
GROWING UP?
Be Sure
To Read
\\
TEEN-AG
by
Kitte Turmell
Sundays in
filmjtf
HOME MAGAZINE
A DISCIPLINED
MIND IS
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Order from
1963 Indexes soon, available included free
Improvement Era office, 135 So. State, Salt Lake City, Utah
These Times
( Continued from page 9 )
majority of the delegates to trie great
nominating convention, each one dif-
ferent, and each one having his own
view of what is wrong or right with
the country, with the United Na-
tions, and with the space-race; and
what is needed at home from the
federal government (but not any-
where else), in order to save the
nation's economic life.
"The struggle for the nomination
in 1964 began in 1960. Little knots
of informal organization began in
1961. By 1963 offices were rented,
people hired, payrolls launched,
debts incurred, jets scheduled,
itineraries, appearances planned and
scheduled, in anticipation of the
great organization efforts now be-
ginning to move in anticipation of
the New Hampshire primary. Third,
after securing the nomination, the
organization has to move on to the
November election day, after which
life will never be quite the same
whether victor or vanquished.
"The American presidency has al-
ways meant hard work. But in
these times it is hard work under
constant friendly and unfriendly
scrutiny. Flashbulb follows flash-
bulb in an almost ceaseless torrent;
microphones, TV cameras, gentle-
men of the press in formal confer-
ence, or informally, have pencils
poised to report every smile, frown,
and breath of the world. The Presi-
dent, no matter what else he is, has
to be one of the world's greatest
actors. He is 'on stage' without
letup. Most executives can walk
smoothly across any room they enter.
The President of the United States
has to avoid tripping over a maze of
cables, wires, and other rope-like
impediments, even in his own office.
The testing he receives in gaining
national visibility, followed by the
nomination, stern though it may be,
is only slight preparation for the
tasks that await him as President.
Then he has to read clearly the
prejudices, desires, and interests of
his people. If he has the capacity
to keep the following that elected
him, or a reasonable facsimile, he
can attempt to cope with domestic
issues and the individuals, each
separately elected, who make up the
54
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
US Senate and House of Represen-
tatives; and who among themselves
constitute the Congress. Then, if he
can maintain sufficient support from
both Congress and those who
elected him, he may be able to
exert a little influence on world af-
fairs, a more difficult undertaking.
"There once prevailed a fine old
American custom of remembering
the President of the United States
in our prayers, public and private.
More than ever before, today, who-
ever he may be, he needs them.
If you dislike the President, and
you are convinced that you and the
Almighty are in agreement, all the
more reason for your prayers to
help the incumbent improve, change
his course, or repent so as to get in
harmony with both your excellent
judgment and the design of Provi-
dence. If you like him, he needs
your prayers that he may have
the physical strength for mere
survival in these times, let alone
ACHIEVEMENT
BY DEON NETHERCOTT OLSON
To capture in a word,
A phrase, a verse, a line
A precious thought or mood,
Or view— and then combine
To strike an answering chord
In those who hear or see:
This is the dream of poets
And the work of poetry.
the divine wisdom which he must
surely require to carry such awful
responsibility."
Since November 22, 1963 only
the final two paragraphs and espe-
cially the last one appear to have
much meaning. Everything else has
been radically changed— by several
rifle shots! But there is need for the
American people to appreciate their
public servants, and their servants'
need for divine support, especially
the American Presidency, in view
with poignant thrust and sorrow.
There will be few others like John
F. Kennedy, with his family, his
charm, his unusual scholarship, and
trenchant statement. But there will
be others to follow who will need,
what only in retrospect, we would
offer for John F. Kennedy now if
we only could.
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Except the Lord Build
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(Continued from page 33)
which this sheltering and fruitful
tree may grow is best planted and
nurtured in the daily supplications
of the family.
I know of no better way to incul-
cate love for country than for
parents to pray before their children
for the land in which we live, in-
voking the blessings of the Almighty
upon it that it may be preserved in
liberty and in peace. I know of no
better way to build within the hearts
of our children a much-needed re-
spect for authority than remember-
ing in the daily supplications of the
family the President and the Con-
gress and others who carry the
burdens of government.
On the route I travel daily is a
signboard which reads: "A world at
prayer is a world at peace." I be-
lieve it speaks a fundamental truth.
I am satisfied that we shall not have
peace unless and until we request
it in the name of the Prince of Peace
and then reform our lives to be
worthy of it.
The hall from which I speak, the
great Mormon Tabernacle on Tem-
ple Square in Salt Lake City, was
constructed by a people who loved
freedom, who worshiped God, and
who prayed in their simple pioneer
homes, as did most of the pioneers
who laid the foundations of all that
we in America today enjoy.
In 1872 "Colonel" Thomas L. Kane
of Philadelphia visited Utah with
his wife and two sons. They traveled
by wagon some three hundred
miles to the southern part of the
state, stopping each night in the
homes of the people in the little
frontier settlements along the way.
Mrs. Kane wrote a series of letters
to her father in Philadelphia. In
one of them she said: "At every one
of the places we stayed on this
journey we had prayers immediately
after the dinner-supper, and prayers
again before breakfast. No one was
excused. . . . The Mormons kneel at
once, while the head of the house-
hold, or an honored guest prays
aloud. . . . They spend very little
time in ascriptions, but ask for what
they need, and thank Him for what
He has given. . . . [They] take it for
granted that God knows our familiar
names and titles, and will ask a
blessing on (a particular individual
by name). I liked this when I be-
came used to it."
It was so in the pioneer homes
across the land. With the faith that
came of these daily invocations these
people grubbed the sagebrush, led
the waters to the parched soil, made
the desert blossom as the rose, gov-
erned their families in love, lived in
peace one with another and with
the world, and made their names
immortal as they lost themselves in
the service of God.
We cannot pray in our public
schools, but we can pray in our
homes, and in so doing we shall
reweave into the character of our
children the moral strength which
will become the fiber of a better
society. "Seek ye the Lord while
he may be found." (Isa. 55:6.)
This simple practice, a return to
family worship, spreading across the
land and over the earth, would in a
generation do much to lift the blight
that is destroying us. It would re-
store integrity, mutual respect, and
a spirit of thankfulness in the hearts
of the people.
We do not need a new moral
standard in our modern society. The
laws of God have not been abro-
gated. They were not given to one
generation to be laid aside by an-
other. Their disregard can result
only in trouble, misery, and inse-
curity as witness the fruits of the
erosion of morality among us. Their
application is the way of life and
peace and progress.
To you, who sit in your homes in
this great land, established and pre-
served under the hand of the Al-
mighty, I plead for a return to recog-
nition of him and daily supplication
to him. The Master declared, "Ask,
and it shall be given you; seek, and
ye shall find; knock, and it shall be
opened unto you." (Matt. 7:7.)
I give you my testimony that you
shall not go away unrewarded. The
changes may not be readily ap-
parent. They may be extremely
subtle. But they will be real, for
"God ... is a rewarder of them that
diligently seek him." (Heb. 11:6.)
As we change ourselves and our
children, developing within them a
hew respect, a spirit of gratitude, a
becoming humility, we shall reform
our society.
God bless us with the faith to call
upon him at the altar of our homes,
I pray in the name of Jesus Christ.
Amen.
se
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
TWELVE
MONTHS
JANUARY
is for
looking ahead
FEBRUARY
is for friends and
valentines to send
n MARCH
tor improving
is for music
TWELVE
MONTHS
APRIL
is for achieving
MAY
is for
being mindful
JUNE
tor reviewing I ■»
TWELVE
MONTHS
for pursuing the ways of your life
OCTOBER
is for fun
What will you do with your twelve brand
new months? . . . Consider the Era of Youth
Calendar of Events as a guide for getting
} NOVEMBER
the most from the forthcoming year. is for families
THE ERA OF YOUTH
June conference
JULY
is
youth conference
AUGUST
is for adventure
SEPTEMBER
is for
self-improvement
DECEMBER
is for creating a
A Christmas spirit
January 1964, Marion D. Hanks, Editor; Elaine Cannon, Associate Editor that can last the
year round
JANUARY
is for looking ahead.
R
recently we have read
in the news about a new conquest of Mount
Everest. As I thought of the satisfaction gained
from conquering Everest, I was impressed with
the infinitely greater satisfaction and untold
vistas awaiting us at the end of life's climb if
only we are willing to make the preparations
and sacrifices necessary. Too often we take a
short-range view of life, seeing only the upward
climb but forgetting the view from the top. We
can gain a glimpse of the endless blessings that
lie at the end of our trail if we will let the Lord
show us by living close to him.
Since the top of life holds so many blessings,
each one of us should be anxiously engaged in
preparation for our climb, by refining every
facet of our character through diversified activi-
ties and associations, and by living in harmony
with our Father in heaven.
Some of the greatest of life's experiences come
during the teenage period. This a period of
preparation. I have realized the actuality of this
during the past year, since two important oppor-
tunities have confronted me.
We should strive for a college education. Just
as important as the academic side of education is
the tremendous growth one can gain socially and
morally while attending college. Meeting with
people, concepts, attitudes, and situations entirely
different from what one is accustomed to gives a
person the opportunity and obligation really to
decide what he wants to represent in life and
then to stand up for it. With firm ideals and a
strong testimony, a person may be very active in
social organizations and school activities without
any compromise on standards. A friend of mine
who goes to the university has no close relatives
in the city, is president of one of the top frater-
nities, is active socially, and does extremely well
in school — yet he has done all these things with-
out lowering his standards in addition to serv-
ing on a mission.
A mission is the second step in preparing our-
selves and is something no young man should miss.
The other very important step that we, as
members of the Church, should take is temple
marriage which should come when we are mature
enough to accept the responsibility that it entails.
Marriage too early in life cuts short the moral
and social growth we have as young people.
As members of the Church we are greatly aided
in our climb toward Godliness by participation
in its all-encompassing field of activities and by
living its message of truth. Through the gospel
we can reach our goal, for the scriptures state
that "all things are possible to him that believeth."
At many points in our climb we must make de-
cisions and by living as close to our Heavenly
Father as we can, we can expect him to be re-
ceptive to our prayers. Not only can we count
on him for help in major crises, but living close
to him he can aid us in all we do if we are worthy
of his help. This is very reassuring to us as
young people.
Yet the climb is difficult, and it is easy to be-
come discouraged — so how do we keep our resolu-
tion with so many frustrations and failings and
such seemingly slow progress? The one thing
that can give us strength to continue is undying
faith in the future — a firm testimony that this
gospel and all it preaches is true- — that life does
not end at death, and that we may live again in
God's presence with immeasurable joy and satis-
faction if we can endure to the end. If we can
combine endurance to the end with performance
to the end, all the blessings of life will be ours.
Samuel Johnson said: "Great works are per-
formed not by strength but by perseverance."
Let us remember this promise: "Wherefore,
ye must press forward with a steadfastness in
Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and
a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye
shall press forward, feasting upon the word of
Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith
the Father: Ye shall have eternal life." ( 2 Ne. 31:20)
I pray that we may be strong in our resolve
to attain the high goals we have set in life and
contribute our part to the Lord's plan — the view
from the top is certainly worth it.
by James Q. Cannon
58
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
FEBRUARY
is for friends and valentines to send.
Friends are your best bonus to living. They make parties more fun and hearth fires
even warmer. They think you are great, so you try to be. They're someone to share a
secret with or a memory.
Friends are for doing things for as teen Ann Chipman of Bountiful, Utah, suggests.
I mm jmi/^mmmm^imBtM
8898
To know the ruffled heart and gently reply,
Chase away the hidden tear and lonely sigh,
To hear your soul whispering low its secret hopes
Is but to love and understand.
I hope to give you this and more,
For the candy kiss I'm sending tomorrow will be gone.
This ink will fade — the paper yellow I write upon.
Only little thoughtful acts will live beyond.
» »
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Sincerely yours,
Ann 4MM\ ^
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JANUARY 1964
59
MARCH
is for
Music to remember: whether
you are the listeners or the
singers like the Joensuu quar-
tet singing in Tampere, Fin-
land.
Music to praise God with:
Western States Mission
Young Men's Chorus in Den-
ver, Colorado.
Music to sing along with:
California youth have fun at
a sing along with Stan night.
60
milSlC. The kind that you sing to or dance to or march to or
listen to or learn from or thrill to or provide mood with and more.
Perhaps March is a month for moving ahead in the music department of your life.
Listen to better discs. Tune in on birds and children's voices, on lullabies
and campfire harmony. Stage your own musicales. Promote talent among
each other. Capitalize on the character that background music can give to
any gathering. Share your gifts. Blend your voice. Support the concerts.
Congratulate recital artists. Develop your taste. Sing your praises and lift your life
. . . with music.
Music to dance to: "The Angels"
of Castro Valley, California,
popular dance combo.
Music to march to: Mike
Butcher eit, Eddie Coe, Drew
Christensen of Salt Lake City,
Utah.
Music to entertain ivith: Idaho
Falls Seventeenth Ward's pro-
duction of The Mikado.
JANUARY 1964
61
APRIL
is for achieving.
With April comes spring. With spring comes Easter. With Easter all the world awakens
to begin a new cycle of life. This spring awaken yourself — really ! With one chance to
live this life, you won't want to delay in making this particular cycle your best.
Take a lesson from other youth who have learned that to achieve is to plan and pre-
pare and practise and perform.
RANAE BAIR . . . LDS Olympic star who has been interviewed for national
TV and magazines. Says RaNae: "I wonder how many know how
great it is to represent this wonderful, free country of America in a
foreign land? I thrilled at this privilege when I represented the US
in Europe and South America in the women's track and field champion-
ship events." RaNae is studying in Arizona to be a physical education
teacher. She trains early every morning but takes time to serve actively
in the Church and study the gospel in seminary. Her next goal is the
Olympic Games this year in Tokyo, Japan.
DICK GUTHRIE . . . Phoenix 18th Ward in Scotts-
dale, Arizona, claims this ingenious and active
youth. He has parlayed a rickshaw plus mus-
cles, sweat, and determination into a thriving
business. He hauls customers about an Arizona
shopping center. It is a help and a gay novelty
as well as a fine opportunity to build muscles
and a bank account.
62
REX NILSON . . . a leader among youth in 4-H, FFA, scouting, and the
LDS Church. He lives in Spanish Fork, Utah, and traveled as one of
eight delegates from the US to the 32nd International 4-H Club Con-
ference in Canada.
EAGLE SCOUTS . . . Keith Blazin, Steven Hancock, Norman Phil-
lips, and William Ostler proudly display their Eagle badges
earned in Castro Valley, California, under the direction of Scout-
master George Blazin and assistant Scoutmaster Leonard
Hancock.
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
MAY
is for being mindful.
I am a teenager. In a recent article I read some startling
facts about our age group.
1. We cheat commonly in school and college.
2. We marry too young and expect parents to subsi-
dize us.
3. Sexual immorality is widespread among us.
4. A majority of us are physically or mentally unfit.
5. An increasing number drink too much, drive dan-
gerously, and are delinquent.
6. Most of us are conformists, afraid to be different.
7. We lack basic moral, religious, and patriotic values.
8. Few of the fellows accept military service willingly.
This article caught my attention because it said teen-
agers Do This! Is this what the public thinks we do?
I'm quite sure I can speak for most teenagers in the
Church. This is exactly what we DON'T DO.
These facts to back up such articles must be taken from
a very few worldly statistics. I know none of my associates
can be included in this group.
While the comments of such articles do not apply to
church groups, they may serve a warning to us; that every-
where around us there is the ever-present influence that
could suddenly make anyone of us a part of the unfortunate
and misguided few that give such bad report of teenagers.
Let us ask ourselves these questions:
1. Where would I be now if I had not had basically good
moral and religious values?
2. Where would I be now had my parents not cared even
a little bit?
3. What would happen if I had cheated my way through
the training of my profession?
(It's sort of scary thinking of being operated on by a
doctor that cheated his way through medical school!)
We should be very grateful for our parents, seminary
teachers, our Sunday School teachers, our MIA teachers, and
all those who counsel and guide us in a path of righteousness.
Let us help each other to live wisely and encourage teenagers
everywhere to do the same so that frightening statistics of
evil among youth will be changed to statistics of the good
we do. Diane Meyers, Santa Monica, California
llpMBf1-* >j
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CI
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JANUARY 196*
63
JUNE
is June conference.
And June conference is for you!
It's when youth and leaders of youth gather
in the valley of Great Salt Lake and under
the inspired direction of the Young Men's
and Young Women's Mutual Improvement
Associations take a new look at MIA !
The theme is presented for the coming
year ... a theme chosen prayerfully from
sacred scripture ... a theme to memorize,
live by, grow with.
The programs of activities, camping and
sports, drama, music, speech, and dance
are demonstrated by top talent in marvelous
festivals and impressive productions.
The courses of study you'll be taking
come fall are explained and promoted to
your teachers so that you can benefit from
the best there is.
Authors make personal appearances.
Youth panels give helps. Exhibits and
events of all kinds made the trip worth
the while. Words of wisdom echo in the
Tabernacle as General Authorities of the
Church preach from the pulpit in spe-
cial sessions.
People come from all over the world and
old friends and new ones make memories
together.
June is extra wonderful because its June
conference time.
64
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
JULY
is youth conference.
But maybe yours was in May or in August
or November. WHEN doesn't matter: just
so you got in on the unique experience of
meeting other members of the Church in an
element of good times, learning, and testi-
mony-bearing. Have you ever felt such a
special spirit? Have you ever met so many
great people? Have you ever heard better
speakers or enjoyed better talent? And what
about the deep-down-inside kind of thrill
that came from witnessing a nonmember
friend recognize the truthfulness of the
gospel and being baptized? Nothing to
touch it, is there? A smattering of scenes
from around the world recording the mo-
ments of youth conferences.
Building missionaries entertain the huge
crowd during the talent show portion
of the youth conference held in Finland
under the direction of
President Mark E. Anderson.
Mark A. Benson,
YMMIA General Board;
Major Russell L. Rogers
'Mormon" Astronaut USAF;
President Ralph J. Hill
of the Texas Mission
speak to youth
during conference.
Maija Tuppurainen participates
in the Finnish Mission youth
conference speech contest.
5,500 feet up the Swiss Alps was the scene
of the French East Mission Youth Conference
ivhere for 8 days young people learned of the gospel
and fellowship and fun.
65
July (continued)
At right, this quartet in Washington, D. C.
has been invited to perform numerous places.
And it all began in MIA!
Below, time out from baseball
for the Rosivell District team during
the Western States Mission
Youth Conference in Denver, Colorado.
Below right, mission youth in Uruguay
enjoy learning how to dance during
a youth conference session.
At left, mix 1,000 LDS youth with an equal portion of
nonmember friends, and you have the recipe for a
successful youth conference, Pocatello, Idaho style.
Below, Alaska Stake youth groups pose by a totem pole
on one of their now-famous church outings.
66
Lunch between sessions gave an opportunity for
youth of the Northwestern States Mission to discuss
their youth conference theme
"Search for Truth."
AUGUST
is for adventure.
And one LDS girl is having it, at least. Kathleen Pettit, of Salt Lake City, Utah, is
enjoying some unusual experiences while her father fills an assignment for the United
Nations in Tripoli, Libya, North Africa. Reading her story reminds us that adventure
is where we find it. Life has interesting experiences ahead for all of us if we just open
our eyes to the wonders of the world.
With my father and mother I tvalked into Tripoli's
"Old City," along the cobbled and cluttered
streets, past the luring tourist markets on the
outer edges. Everywhere there ivere people —
milling, pushing, yelling, chatting — and children,
ragged and dirty, playing happily in the gutters
by their homes. We tvalked steadily along, com-
pelled by the thought that the next corner would
reveal the hidden and "long-looked for" fish
market and fabric stalls of this old world.
Motivated only by our guesses we stumbled
down the wrong street into the residential area.
The narrow dark streets were lined by crumbling
ivalls, perhaps a thousand years old, where here
and there a closed door kept the fascinating life
and customs behind it a secret. The variety of
smells associated with close living were there,
too, as much a part of the streets as the barra-
caned* Arab. We turned back to seek another
route, for ive did not wish to become lost in this
complex living section.
Coming to a ivider street we found a shop sell-
ing tapestries and a merchant who could speak
English.
The area was completely enclosed and covered,
masked from the slightest trace of sunlight. Ad-
justing our eyes, ive found the dimness to reveal
stall after stall of striped and colorful fabrics.
The stalls were set back into the ivalls and ivere
raised higher than the aisle. The merchants sat
cross-legged on the floor of their own stall wait-
ing for customers.
We found the wholesaler and retailer under one
roof; ive found the teamaker and shopkeeper to
be the same; we found the father training his son
in delicate handwork; and we were spellbound by
the important and wealthy merchant who arro-
*Long robes worn by the Arab people.
gantly sat while runner after runner carried piles
of fine-quality fabrics to him. The aisles buzzed
with scurrying feet and high-pitched chants as the
merchandise was taken and presented to the rich
man. He would inspect it, and if displeased, would
wave the man away. It all seemed strange and
much too old for the twentieth century.
The sunlight outside was blinding at first, but
when our eyes became accustomed to it, we
rambled on with no idea of where we were or
where we were headed. We knew we wanted one
of the beautiful carpets if we could get it at a
reasonable price. We decided it was time to find
our way out when we noticed an arched entrance
leading into another center of darkened activity.
Once inside we found the first stall to hold a
wide variety of the carpet patterns we were espe-
cially interested in. These patterns were those
made by the Arab people of Libya rather than
by Persians.
When the merchant showed us the first carpet,
ive were puzzled by our reaction to it. The woven
and colorful pattern did not seem too different or
unusual to us. We realized soon we had seen a
similar kind of pattern on the carpets, fabrics,
and souvenirs of the American Indians! How
was it possible that the Indians in the Americas
used the same figures and patterns that the native
Arabs in Libya used 7,000 miles away in a differ-
ent part of the world? It is an interesting question.
We purchased a carpet for the most reasonable
bargain price we had found all day. With our
purchases we happily wove our way through the
streets to the outside of this ancient ivorld. We
beamed with an inner glow and a little better
appreciation for the Book of Mormon and the
greatness of the gospel. by Kathleen Pettit
Tripoli, Libya
JANUARY 1964
67
SEPTEMBER
is for self-improvement.
September is for evaluating the part of the year that has gone already in terms of what
has happened to you and what you've done about it. It's for looking ahead once more
to the remaining months, in terms of what you yet can do to make your life more mean-
ingful, better, happier.
// you have ever thumbed through one of the
books belonging to a young child, you may have
read delightful words written by Dr. Seuss that say
if you'd never been born, you might be a "wasn't'.'
The whimsical ivords make sense. Aren't you
glad you aren't a "wasn't"? Aren't you glad
you're you?
Now let's go from marbles and blocks to sheer
sophistication with this quote from William
Shakespeare. It indicates hoiv important he con-
sidered "self"; "This above all, to thine own
self be true."
How do you go about being true to yourself?
First of all by being genuinely fond of yourself.
Next to your love and knowledge of God, should
come love and knowledge of self.
It is impossible to show concern, interest, or
love for others, without first feeling these emo-
tions for yourself. If you can't love yourself
because you've ahvays considered yourself a four-
sided figure (square), then start whacking at
yourself physically, mentally, and morally.
Psychiatrists tell you that any changes you may
desire to make for self -improvement are much
more easily accomplished while you're young, than
after you've dawdled about for four . or five
decades. Youth gives you a racing start. Don't
listen for the starting gun — go — now!
If you are uncertain how to begin this self-
remodeling, organize a bit. Borrow one of Benja-
min Franklin's famous fortune-makers. His
quaint system included writing a list of thirteen
virtues which he considered necessary to improve
himself. Among these virtues were such sturdy
giants as temperance, order, industry, and sin-
cerity. You may want to update your list; revise
it to suit your needs. Mr. Franklin kept a chart,
taking a virtue a week, and starring himself daily
when he felt he'd conquered the vice for that day.
Just remember that with a little discipline, and
a lot of faith in what you can do,, you can conquer
the world. Keep reminding yourself that you are
unique. There is no one else quite like you in
all of creation. You'll be glad you are you and
not just a "wasn't."
Joan Haskins
68
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
OCTOBER
is for fun.
October is for reminding you that all through the year there are things to be doing that
are wholesome and wonderful and acceptable in the eyes of anybody who cares a fig about
living the good life, the full life, the right life, the life of maximum happiness.
October is for getting people together who haven't gotten together before :
1. new members of the Church
2. newcomers to school
3. new officers of the class
4. new boy-girl twosomes
Or getting people together who are always together but getting them to do something
they haven't done before:
1. Build props for the ward carnival.
2. Stage a "sneak" on the bishopric by surprising them during
their weekly meeting with frosted cookies and chilled milk.
3. Sign up for "turns" at sack lunches for the elders, hot soup
for the new church building crew, thank-you cards (made
by you) for MIA leaders.
October is for open houses to remind:
1. the team that you think they're tops
2. the neighbors that you're glad you live on the same street
3. the cousins and aunts and uncles and small fry that sharing
a fine heritage with them is precious
October is for having your girl friend over for Sunday supper (if you're a boy) or your
boy friend over for dinner before the dance (if you are a girl). It's for walking through
countrysides, gathering nuts, window shopping, bookstore browsing, gallery going.
October is for doing any one of a number of things to delight you, surprise you, enlighten
you, entertain you and possibly even improve you while you are at it.
ELAINE CANNON
JANUARY 1964
69
NOVEMBER
is for families.
"There is beauty all around, when there's love
at home."
Our home should be the most important place
and part of our lives, because the most important
people in our lives live there. I'm wondering if
some of us are not guilty of letting our home and
family come second when there is a choice to be
made. Perhaps this is because we know our fam-
ilies will love us no matter what we do. But this
love isn't to be taken for granted or taken
advantage of. It is a precious thing — and becomes
even more precious when it is given back. I know
that I could hardly begin to repay my family,
especially my parents, for all they have done, but
it becomes increasingly evident how much a few
short words of thanks and appreciation can mean
in repayment for a kind deed done or some serv-
ice rendered.
When was the last time that you put your arms
around your mom or dad and just said, "I love
you"? My mother is always doing special things
for me, as yours must do for you, and many times
I just get bogged down in the things I'm doing in
my own little world and neglect to tell her how
much I appreciate her. And my dad — he is always
gladly willing to play chauffeur and take me around
to different places, and he is always there when I
need something fixed, and he is always the one
to smile at me when the corners of my mouth are
turning down instead of up.
As we younger people go to school, our lives
become centered around teachers and learning.
But do you know that the best teachers are right
in our own homes? I would like to give parents a
new title, one which they most rightfully deserve
— professors of living'. I'm finding out that one
can learn a great deal just from observing. There
are no better teachers than parents.
You know, I'm also wondering if the closeness
in our families doesn't leave something to be
desired. If so, how can we go about developing
a closeness? Sometimes I think we have another
member in our families called television. The
TV has changed the life of the family consider-
ably. I think the attitude of the youth is almost
that it is old-fashioned or sissy to sit some
evenings with their families and do things to-
gether— things like reading good books — espe-
cially the scriptures. And the older people, too,
for that matter — perhaps we can play games or
sing songs. One of the happiest and closest fami-
lies I know play games together many evenings.
And most important of all is family prayer. If
the kind of relationship is acquired in which a
family likes to do these things, and feels at ease,
it is such that, when problems do arise, there is
enough love and understanding that things are
talked over in a mature manner, and feelings
aren't unnecessarily hurt.
"There is joy in every sound when there's love
at home." When this closeness and real love be-
tween family members is achieved, there comes
such a beautiful feeling of joy and happiness.
Why not start out each day with this happy
feeling so you can carry it within you all day
long ? Can't a conscientious effort be made so that
the whole family can eat breakfast together each
morning and start out the day with some happy
words? This is where the effort comes in, I
realize. But if we can do this, the good feeling
we obtain becomes apparent to others who see us
during the day. Happiness is contagious.
President McKay has asked that we let the
light of the gospel radiate from our homes, and
what better way can we do this than by seeking
first a stronger bond among family members and
then radiating the joy and happiness that re-
sults, and renewing it each morning just before
starting out on a new day? Everyone notices our
prophet because of the light that shines from his
face. Couldn't we let a light shine from us also?
And where do we acquire this light more than by
learning and loving in the home? '.. "Making life
a bliss complete, when there's love at home."
70
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
DECEMBER
is for creating a Christmas
spirit that can last the year round.
And that is just what students
of the Skyline Seminary in Salt
Lake City, Utah? have done
for several years. Their 1963
Christmas project was the
largest known single undertak-
ing of service for others that
any seminary has ever tackled.
The project theme was "The
Improvement Era around the
World." They sold fifty cent
bars of fine chocolate candy.
They scoured the town and
haunted school halls. They
knocked on doors and coaxed
co-operation from shop owners.
They put little brothers and
sisters to work on the goal.
They used every spare second
making sales, making friends.
The candy was delicious and the
project a success. As a result
of their efforts, several thou-
sand investigators and new
members of the Church the
world over will enjoy the true
Christmas spirit all year as
The Improvement Era comes
into their homes each month.
John F. Heidenreich is principal of the
Skyline Seminary, Student-body officers
are Rod Engar, Bob Kaelin, LeNea Kimball,
and Markay Bruggeman.
JANUARY 1964
The
Last
Word
It is easy in the world to live after the
world's opinion, it is easy to live in soli-
tude after your own; but the great man
is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps
with perfect sweetness the independence
of solitude. — Ralph Waldo Emerson
Many times a day I realize how
much my own life is built upon the
labors of my fellow men, and how
earnestly I must exert myself in
order to give in return as much as
I have received. — Albert Einstein
Some folks demand the benefit of
the doubt when there isn't any.
"Common sense is not
so common. "—Voltaire
The man who rows the
boat generally doesn't
have time to rock it.
Minds are like parachutes:
They only function when
open. — Thomas Robert Dewar
Seems like the hardest thing
to find in the modern kitchen
is an old-fashioned cook.
Rip Van Winkle is the only man who became famous while asleep.
Matrimony is one
state that permits
a woman to work
eighteen hours a day.
We should not judge
until we see clearly;
and when we see clear-
ly, we will not judge.
"Rings and jewels are not gifts,
but apologies for gifts. The
only true gift is a portion of
thyself." — Ralph Waldo Emerson
Experience is simply the name we
give our mistakes.— Oscar Wilde
A man's life cannot be bigger than
the objects to which it is given.
You can save yourself a lot of
trouble by not borrowing any.
To get rich, you must first learn
to earn more money than you
spend; from there on it's easy.
Small minds discuss per-
sons; average minds,
events; great minds, ideas.
Life is a grindstone;
whether it grinds you
down or polishes you
up, depends on what
you are made of.
Engine trouble, and not a service station in sight
It was such a tiny speck on the ocean
that our tanker almost missed it!
Far out in the Sulu Sea, beyond the direct ship
lanes, the little Ermedita ran into trouble : a shat-
tered crankshaft. The captain and some of the
crewmen left in small boats for help — but help
never came.
Seven days had gone by. There was no radio, just
a white flag fluttering from the mast. Not a ship had
passed. Supplies were running low. And hope, too.
Aboard our tanker, outbound to Sumatra, a lookout
thought he saw a flash of white on the far horizon.
The captain altered his course to investigate.
They found seven shocked, tired men, took them
aboard, gave them medical care, and towed their
stricken vessel to the Philippines, saving their
means of livelihood.
It's only one of many times our tanker men have
made friends for our Company by giving aid at sea.
On land, Standard men and women seek to make
equally good friends for our Company— by the char-
acter of our public services, the
integrity of our products, and our
behavior as a citizen.
STANDARD OIL COMPANY OF CALIFORNIA
Second Class Postage Paid
at Salt Lake City, Utah
I'll never, ever forget . . .
The day the roof . „ in!
fell
I hope I never have a more urgent
need for cash than I did last February.
If I do, I'm sure my hair will turn
white.
I was buying six trucks on contract
and business reverses had caused me
to miss four payments. The company
set final deadline for payment at 10:00
a.m. on Friday.
I tried frantically to get another
extension. The company, however,
seemed determined to tie up the trucks.
They wouldn't give me time to refi-
nance, and at that time banks were not
loaning money for truck payments.
I was desperate. It seemed I would
lose all of my past years of hard work
as well as my investment. Shortly I
would be out of business and out of a
job. It was the most discouraging day
of my life.
Then I ran into my Beneficial agent.
How happy I was when he reminded
me that in my life insurance there was
a cash loan value. I'd never dreamed
it would be enough to save my invest-
ment.
Four days later I held in my hand
an airmail envelope containing a check
for $3,500. It really saved the day!
I plan now to return the money to
the company later in the year, because
I've learned that I don't have to die
to make my life insurance useful.
Some people claim to be "insurance
poor." Well, I'm "insurance rich!"
From the Beneficial Life Files.
BENEFICIAL LIFE
Virgil H. Smith, Pres.
Salt Lake City, Utah
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